In the Afterlife
by ieevee
Summary: What happens after you die? Where do you go, who will you meet? Will you ever be able to meet your friends from the "real world" again? Inuyasha gets to know the answers all by himself after yes, he Dies.
1. How it started

Okay now, a new story, which I actually started in 2014. The beginning is maybe a bit like in my previous story "The Sepsis", but don't worry, it will change.

The name of the story maybe spoils a little.

I can't promise that this story will be finished.

1 – How it started

It was just one normal summer's day in a small village back in the Feudal era of Japan. The rays of the sun gave strength to everyone working – the men hunting in the woods for food, the women taking care of children and the priestessess taking care of the sick ones. Just like today.

A young hanyou boy, named Inuyasha, was laying on his side in the middle of one of the huts, seeming very bored. He sighed and yawned every now and then. A few meters from him sat a young woman with long, strong hair, and a small child in her arms. She was Sango, and this child belonged to her and her husband Miroku. The child was only a few weeks old, and was very beloved.

In the middle of the hut there was a small fireplace. On the fire there was a black cauldron, were there was tea brewing. By the fire was sitting the leading priestess of the village, Kaede, and she was stirring the tea with a calm face. Not many words had been said in this hut for quite a while.

"Can I already...?" Inuyasha was about to ask, but started coughing. He covered his mouth with his hand, and after stopping coughing, he saw a small drip of blood on his palm.

"Ye can't. Ye stay inside and rest. The tea is soon ready", Kaede said, calm. Inuyasha snorted, frustrated. He had been like 'grounded' for a few days. He was not allowed to go to the woods, not kill demons, nothing. Everyone just told him to rest. And why?

About a month ago Inuyasha had started coughing. It was really nothing. Only Kagome was worried. But for some reason the cough wouldn't subside – vise versa. It got worse from small hacking to horrid coughing coming straight from the bottom of his lungs. But still, they all kept on their Shikon search, but Inuyasha was very tired.

Then there became a real reason why Inuyasha and his friends had to return to Kaede's village – Sango was about to give birth. Nothing could brake the love in that hut when Kaede held the littlle baby in her arms, handing her over to her parents, Sango and Miroku. Everyone was smiling, even Inuyasha... Until he started coughing so hard it was impossible to concentrate on the baby. Now everyone was worried.

Inuyasha laid on floor curled up, not sleeping, but tapping the wooden floor with his claw. He felt to tired it was like he was too tired to sleep, if you could put it that way.

Kaede sat down the boy and handed over the tea cup. Inuyasha sat up and started drinking. Then Kaede reached over his forehead.

"Yer fever is getting worse."

"Keh! Don'tcha worry about it. No cough is gonna beat me!"

Kaede looked at the boy with a little sad eyes. Compared to the previous, energetic Inuyasha, now he looked like a wizened flower. His eyes were empty and hazy, he was white as a sheet, and had ilost some weight.

"There", Inuyasha said and handed over the empty tea cup to the old lady, who accepted it slowly. The hanyou coughed once. A small drip of blood splattered on floow.

"Mama, where's the cough syrup you bought for Inuyasha?" Kagome called from the living to the kitchen, where her mother was. Kagome had just returned from school, getting ready to go back to the feudal era to her friends. She had no idea about how Inuyasha was feeling nowadays, but she wanted to play it safe and get some childrens' cough syrup from the local pharmacy. Why childrens' ? Because Kagome was quite sure Inuyasha wouldn't take the normal syrup without a huge battle.

Kagome took the big, yellow backpack she always used in the feudal era, dashed her mother and hugged her thight.

"Thank you, Mama!"

And so, off we go!

Shippo, a little kitsune, sat on an old, wooden well, which was called "The Bone-eater's Well". He was holding a flower in his little hands, peeling the petals one by one.

"She's comin', she ain't comin, she's comin''..." and suddenly he could see a strong flash of light shine from the bottom of the well.

"Hiya, Kagome!" he cheered, waving his hand. Kagome waved back, smiling, starting to climb up the ladder. She hopped up from the well and landed on the fresh grass.

"We've been waiting for ya since morning!" Shippo said, smiling at first... when suddenly his face got serious.

"Hm? Shippo? What is it?" Kagome asked, tilting her head.

"Inuyasha."

The duo walked through the woods, finally arriving to Kaede's village. The people greeted them with warm faces and bowing – Kagome was very liked in here, since she often brought food and medicine with her.

And so they arrived in front of Kaede's hut's door. Kagome was just about to knock, but stopped her fist a few inches before the wooden wall. Then she started hearing coughing from the inside. Now she knocked and went inside.

Kaede, Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha were sitting around the fire, Kirara purring against Inuyasha. Sangowas rocking her baby gently, and turned her head towards Kagome, and so did Inuyasha, giving little smile and waving a bit, but starting to cough again.

"Hi there, Kagome..." Sango greeted, but didn't smile. Miroku gave a small, slow nod.

"Hi..." Kagome nodded and walked in. She put her backpack down and sat beside Inuyasha. "And I was wishing you to be alright... But dear God you're so pale..."

Inuyasha gave maybe even a bit cruel face which made her flinch. Inuyasha noticed this and mumbled quietly:

"Sorry, I didn't mean to... I'm not angry with you. I'm just so goddamn tired that's all."

"Then why on earth are you not in bed?" Kagome asked, sounding maybe a bit angry. Inuyasha answered by twitching his ears. And so Kagome opened the hut's closet, took a mattress, a pillow and a blanket out, put them on the floor and pointed at them.

"There you go!" Kagome said, headstrong.

Inuyasha sighed and, without a word, crashed on the mattress. He curled up under the blanket, not closing his eyes. Kagome stared at him for a while, but as he kept coughing, she remembered something!

"Inuyasha, I have something for you!" she said, crawled to her backpack and took the cough syrup out, crawling back to Inuyasha. She poured some syrup on a spoon and tapped Inuyasha's shoulder. Inuyasha sat up and started sniffing the air (the medicine, that is).

"What is that disgusting junk?" he asked, scratching his ear with his right foot.

"It's cough medicine. My Mama bought it, just for you! Now, open your mouth and take it."

"No."

"You don't want me to say the word do you?"

"You wouldn't."

"...Yeah, I wouldnt..." Kagome sighed. "But please take it. It can help your cough. Please."

After hesitating for a while, Inuyasha finally opened his mouth and let Kagome put the spoon in. Kagome had to admit his fangs were very scary and he had quite a bad breath.

It was getting later. Dinner had been eaten hours ago and Sango was currently breastfeeding the baby. It was all quiet, only silent crackling of the flames of the fireplace broke the silence – because Inuyasha was asleep. But something was wrong: Kagome had noticed it.

She sat next to the sleeping hanyou, stroking his hair... when she suddenly touched his ear. He had a high fever – he should be burning up! But no – he was actually feeling cold. Kagome was getting really worried now. Should she be?

Well, maybe things would be all better in a day or two.


	2. The breath

I think the chapters of this story will be quite short. Just so you know.

2 – The Breath

The next morning everyone woke up at the same time – not only to the baby's cry, but also Inuyasha coughing. Kaede was brewing some porridge while Kagome was spreading some menthol lotion on Inuyasha's chest and back.

"This should at least help with your cough..." Kagome said a bit quietly. Inuyasha sighed, but started coughing. He covered his mouth, but as it was already covered in blood, he didn't bother to wipe the blood off.

Then suddenly Inuyasha's ears shot up, and he quickly turned towards the door.

"Inuyasha, wha-?!" Miroku shouted out, but he could sense what the boy had sensed: "A demon..."

Sango could hear the shouts from outside.

"Take her!" she said, handed over quickly her child to Kaede, grabbing her Hiraikotsu and ran out of the hut.

"Is it close?" Sango asked when she stopped beside Miroku. The man nodded, but couldn't be sure.

"Inuyasha! Can you tell where it i...?" he asked, but when he turned towards his friend, he could see him leaning against his Tessaiga, shaking.

A huge, dark green demon with horns and teeth came out of the forest.

"Inuyasha, get back to the hut right now!" Miroku ordered, but Inuyasha just pulled himself together, lift his sword...

"Kaze... no... KIZU!"

And so a huge beam of light pierced the demon, and after one horrid roar the demon was gone, not a bode remaining.

As the dust subsided and Miroku and Sango had coughed for a while, they started looking for Inuyasha

"Inuyasha! Inuyashaaa!" Miroku shouted. And there he was, on all fours, shaking, Tessaiga beside him in it's small form. He turned his face to his friends, and as they started running towards him, he crashed on ground and fell unconcious.

"Hang on", Miroku said, calm, as he and Sango grabbed Inuyasha from his armpits and carried him to the hut.

Inuyasha was getting back concious. He was laying in a bed, freezing cold.. He could hear speech and smell food. He opened his eyes and coughed a few times.

"Hey, Inuyasha woke up!" Shippo shouted and pointed at the hanyou. Everyone turned towards him, smiling.

"How wonderful!" Kagome sighed from relief and sat right next him. She started stroking his dog ear... but just when she had touched it, she drew her hand back. "Your ear..." she gasped in distress amd touched the boy's forehead and cheek. "You're freezing cold..."

"I can feel it, alright..." Inuyasha mumbled and sat up. He was shaking a bit and his ears were drooping.

"I'll quickly brew some tea for ye", Kaede said and hustled and in no time a pot of tea was boiling on the fire.

"Maybe we should put some warm compresses on him", Sango suggested. "Maybe they'd help."

And so a bit of the boiling water was mixed with a bit of cold water, and Kagome soaked a few towels in it. She placed the towels on his chest and stomach.

"How does it feel?"

"Cold..." Inuyasha coughed once.

Inuyasha was getting worse. He was more tired day by day, and these days he did actually nothing. He just slept and coughed. But the thing that his friends were actually worried about was that he had no fever. He was cold as ice and had lost more weight.

It had been hours since a sound had been heard in Kaede's hut. Miroku was out in the woods, Kaede was looking after village's children and Shippo, leaving only Sango and her baby, Kagome and Inuyasha in the hut. The baby was asleep. And Kagome thought Inuyasha was, too, until he opened his eyes. The rays of sunlight shone in from the small window next to the door. It was all quiet.

"Kagome", Inuyasha whispered.

"Mmh... Inuyasha...?" Kagome woke up from half 'sleep and got up from the floor. She yawned and stroke his shoulder gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Remember that I... love you. That I will always protect you. Always", Inuyasha said, quiet, and closed his eyes. Kagome's eyes widened of amazement. She placed her hand on the boy's chest and stroke him.

The young couple stayed lik this for a long time. Inuyasha was breating slowly, Kagome stroke him genty.

But suddenly Kagome noticed Inuyasha's chest wasn't rising and lowering anymore. She couldn't hear that quiet snivel.

"Inuyasha..." the girl startled. "Hey, Inuyasha!" The boy didn't move. "INUYASHA!"

Sango was standing still, next to Kagome, who was crying on all fours on the ground. The girl was shaking and sobbing like no tomorrow. Sango got closer to her, knelt down beside her and placed her hand on Kagome's shoulder. There they sat, on Inuyasha's grave.


	3. Welcome to the Afterlife

Now! Time for some sweetness!

* * *

3 – Welcome to the Afterlife

Last evening Inuyasha had passed away due to his illness. He just stopped breathing. And this morning he had been cremated and the ashes were sprinkled honorably on the roots of the Goshinboku. The whole village took part in the funeral, and lots of flowers were placed on the place where the ashes had been sprinkled. Inuyasha's rosary had been spared. Kagome had it is her breast pocket.

Kaede and Miroku led the silent moment, but Kagome was fighting to stay quiet. She was on the verge of tears.

"It will be okay, Kagome", Sango said, gently stroking her friend's shoulder, although she was on the verge of tears, too.

"But how can I live without him?" Kagome cried. "We were supposed to be inseparable. Inuyasha was supposed to be the last of us to die! To be immortal!"

"Nobody is immortal. But maybe he is is now up there, watching us up from the clouds..."

That might be true in a way. Inuyasha felt like he woke up from sleep. He heard the loud sound of the swishing of tree leaves and birds singing. He blinked his eyes, blinked twice... And then his eyes shot open. He sat up quickly and looked around in a shock. His head didn't ache anymore. He didn't feel cold. He didn't feel like coughing, not feeling lightheaded... Where was he? What had happened?

Inuyasha stood up. He felt the wet, glittering grass under his feet and the wind in his hair. He looked around absolutely astounded. He saw huge trees all around him. They were even larger than Goshinboku. They were so tall Inuyasha couldn't even see their tops – he felt like an ant.

Suddenly he felt a familiar scent in his nose... He couldn't tell what it was, but somehow he knew it. And so he started following it. He walked through the forest, crossed a river and finally arrived at the edge of a huge field. He wandered around it, and finally just laid down on his back and relaxed. This place Was nice all right, but where was Kagome? What about Miroku? Sango? Shippo? Kirara? Kaede? Where was he? How did he get here? What was going on?

He laid there quite a while, not really minding his problems. For some reason, he felt really good. Relaxed.

Suddenly...

"Welcome, my son", said a very low man's voice. Now Inuyasha twitched and quickly sat up. His eyes shot open.

In front of him he saw a man. He was very tall, maybe about 1.5 feet taller than him and very muscular. He had long, sliver hair tightened up on a ponytail. His shoulders and arms were covered with metal armor, and he had a white kimono with a few blue stripes. He had stripes on his cheeks. Who was he?

Inuyasha retreated, confused, and couldn't say anything. The man stayed quiet, too.

"Y-your son...?" Inuyasha mumbled, astonished. "Are you my... dad?"

The man nodded, smiling, and approached the boy. He placed his hand on the top of his son's head right in between his dog ears and stroke them. "I have been waiting for you. Your soul's transition took a bit longer than I thought."

"My... What?" Inuyasha repeated. "Where the hell am I?"

"This place has many names. But we, who live here, call it the Afterlife."

"You mean... I am... A-am I... DEAD!?" Inuyasha cried out. His father nodded again. For a while nobody said a thing, when finally Inuyasha's eyes lit up:

"But... If I'm dead and you, dad, are here, dead too... then... Mom is here too, right?"

"Yes. Follow me, I'll take you to her", the man nodded, turned aroung waved the boy to follow him. They walked out of the field and disappeared to the forest. Inuyasha followed his father right behind him along a path.

"You know... Dad..." Inuyasha said quietly. "Your name's Inutaisho, right?"

"Yes."

"And Mom told me it was you who named me Inuyasha... A name same like yours... She also told about you sometimes... I remember it", Inuyasha mumbled."When you fought to protect Mom and me that night when I was born."

"True. And that night I died and was transitioned here. And ever since, my job has been protecting you and your mother."

"Like a guardian angel?"

"Yes, something like that."

"Keh! You made an epic fail! Mom died years and years ago, leaving me all alone, living through hell all my life! And what about my death? I was deadly sick for a month, and now I'm dead too!"

"My son, everyone has their time to die. We souls cannot prevent it. We can only give some strength to our protegies. I protected your mother until the day of her death, and after that, you."

"And what about now?" Inuyasha raised his eyebrow.

"Sesshomaru. Who else? He didn't really need protection like you and your mother did, so that's why picked you instead of him."

Even though Inuyasha was acting rude and arrogant, Inutaisho didn't get offended. He had been following his son through all his life, and knew his nature.

For the rest of their journey nobody said anything, when suddenly trees started to thin out. They found each other in front of a huuuuge japanese castle's yard. There was a small temple with stone dragons guarding it's door and a small creek and a waterfall. And it was sure not the only temple in here.

Inuyasha followed his father, looking around his mouth open. Was everything in "the Afterlife" this big?

"Come in", Inutaisho smiled and opened one sliding door for his son. The castle was very fine, the waxed floors were reflecting almost like mirrors and the japanese folding screens were painted beautifully.

"Dad... If everyone who dies comes here... How on earth do we all fit in here?" Inuyasha asked as they walked the corridor.

"This dimension is endless. Some souls return back to the world of the living, but those are things you should not be worrying about."

After walking the endless corridors Inutaisho opened one more door and pointed inside with a warm smile.

"Here is our room – Yours, mine and..."

Inuyasha stepped inside...

"M-mo..." Inuyasha couldn't believe his eyes. There she sat – a beautiful lady with long, black hair, dressed in beautiful kimonos... That was her. That was Inuyasha's mother. She had been waiting for him.

"Mom!" Inuyasha shouted and incontinently rushed into her arms, nuzzling against her breast. The parents could hear the boy whimper like a puppy, but as his face was covered, nobody could see a few small tears of joy came to his eyes. He had maybe never been this happy before.

It was getting late. All this time Inuyasha had just enjoyed his time with his parents – the people he loved the most. Now he was sitting next to his mother in his dog pose, leaning against her shoulder, relaxed. Inutaisho looked at this, smiling.

"Now we will get to know each other", Inutaisho. "You'll meet some other souls. It's dinner time."

"Dinner?" Inuyasha turned his ears towards his father. "Do we dead people eat?"

"Oh yes. Eating is huge enjoyment, and the Afterlife is supposed to just what the living ones think 'heaven' is – everything is perfect, so perfect you never want to leave."

For a while Inuyasha looked blank, but then smiled a bit and nodded.

"Mom?" Inuyasha asked as the trio walked the corridor.

"Yes, honey?"

"Did you ever feel sorry to see your son going through hell after you died?"

"I did. Sometimes I cried myself to sleep. I even pleaded the King to let me return back to your world."

"But he didn't let you. Why?"

"You must have a soul strong enough to return the world of the living. And I just wasn't strong enough."

"But now we're here, together", Inutaisho smiled and put his hands on their shoulders.

Finally they arrived in front of maybe the biggest sliding door Inuyasha had seen before. Inutaisho didn't knock, just opened it and let his son and wife in. And my Lord the dining hall was huge! And it was almost filled with people... But not only human! Inuyasha's ears shot up when he was a table group filled with other youth. But what's the best – they were all hanyous! He could tell it – they didn't smell like human, but not demon either.

"Go and have seat. I'll bring the food soon", Inutaisho said and pointed one table group, where there was still some free place. Mother and the son stepped to the group and sat down.

"Hello, Izayoi!" a young woman in light kimono. "Is he...?"

"Yes. This is my son, Inuyasha. He came just this morning."

The whole group looked at Inuyasha – but those faces were not like he had seen all his life. These weren't blasphemous, hating... No, they were welcoming and filled with approval.

Soon Inutaisho arrived at the table group with a large tray with three cups of miso soup on his family's tables, and sat down next to his son.

"Well hello there!" the man smiled. "Have you got to know each other yet?"

"Yeah, but I haven't introduced myself yet!" said a boy, maybe a few years older than Inuyasha. "I'm Zaki, dragon hanyou!"

"Inuyasha, dog hanyou!" Inuyasha smiled. "Nice to meetcha!"

And they shook hands and started eating.

"Mom..." Inuyasha mumbled with his mouth full. "Are there lots of hanyous out here?"

"Yes. Maybe not as much as humans or full youkais but yes, there are", Izayoi answered.

"And about... bad youkais? Do we have to fight them to survive in here?"

"Absolutely no. Bad youkais simlpy disappear after they die. And fighting or war is not allowed in here", said Inutaisho.

"Keh! It's getting quite boring in here if all I can do is to enjoy my days!"

"But I told you, son, that we souls protect living humans. Tomorrow it's your turn to go get your protege!"

Inuyasha sat still, looking deep inside his father's eyes.


	4. The Choice

4 – The Choice

After the dinner Inutaisho took his son with him to show him around the castle. He showed those gorgeus halls, bathing rooms and the temple in the yard.

Now they sat side by side on one of the clastle's verandah, watching the youth to play ball. Inuyasha was a bit untalkative.

"Wouldn't you like to join the game?" Inutaisho asked. Inuyasha shook his head slowly. "I know why", the man said, quiet.

"How would you know?" Inuyasha mumbled.

"I told you; I have been your protector. I've seen how the villagers treated you."

"But why didn't you stop them?" Inuyasha questioned with a sad face.

"We souls cannot control people. But I could protect you to survive the rocks that your village's people threw at you, and help you grow. And you did. But this day was your day to die. That's just it. It was meant to be."

"...Right..." Inuyasha sighed.

"But! As I said, you should get ready for tomorrow. You'll meet the King and pick your protege from the land of the living."

Now Inuyasha was sitting in his home room with his parents. He was still so enlightened about getting his parents back that he didn't even really think about his friend back in the world of living. As Inutaisho was making beds, Inuyasha was sharing a sweet moment with his mother. He Was young alright, but maybe not that young as he was acting like now. He was curled up his head on his mother's lap and nuzzled against her. He wasn't ashamed – not at all. Izayoi stroked him, smiling. But suddenly her face turned sad.

"It was absolutely horrible seeing you in your last days..." she said quietly. "Me and your father pleaded the King to transmit you quicker so that you wouldn't have to suffer longer."

"Yea... Your death was long and painful too", Inuyasha said. "I remember it. How I sat by you and watched you take your last breaths..."

"But now it's okay. Now we're here", Inutaisho laid with a small smile.

Inuyasha spent his night next to his mother. And when morning came, Inuyasha was awaken by small beams of sunlight from the windows in the ceiling boundaries. He sat up and saw his mother decorating a silky kimono.

"Good morning, honey", Izayoi smiled like the sun. Inuyasha nodded with a smile. Now he knew it was true, not a dream – he Was dead, he Had got his parents back... But what about his living friends?

He started looking for his father, looking around. The room's sliding door was open, and there his father sat, on the verandah. He turned his face towards the boy.

"Get up, son", he said. Inuyasha stood up and jogged to him. "Now it's time to see the King."

Father and the son walked through the castle. A lot of people were on the move. Inuyasha wondered why, until he felt a poke on his shoulder. He looked behind him and saw Zaki – that dragon hanyou!

"Hiya, Inuyasha!" he greeted cheerfully. "Will you and your dad come for breakfast with us?"

"Later", Inutaisho said. "We're going to the King."

"Oh, I see..." Zaki nodded. "Pick your protege carefully, Inu! You can't change it before it dies!"

Inuyasha chuckled and nodded. He felt so good being accepted.

After wandering around the castle they arrived upon a beautiful door. Inutaisho gave a look upon Inuyasha and knocked the door thrice. A word came from behind it. He opened the door, and a huge hall unfolded in Inuyasha's eyes. There was a throne at the other side of the hall... but no king to be seen.

"Uh... Hello! Is there anyone in here?" Inutaisho called out. And POOF! Suddenly in front of the canine-duo floated a man on a small cloud.

"Oh, sorry to keep you waiting", the man apologized. He turned towards the boy instantly. "And you are... Inuyasha, right?"

"... Yea?" Inuyasha nodded, eyes wide. "How didya...?"

"I am the King if the Afterlife! There is very little that I Can't do!"

Inuyasha nodded, and the King started circling around the boy. He clapped his hands, grinning.

"Mr. Dog-general", he said, "you can be proud of your son! He has a strong soul! He can pick his protege right away!"

For a while nobody said anything. But this question was stupid – of course he knew who he'd pick!

"I'll pick a girl called Kagome Higurashi."

"Hmm, well that was quick..." the King mumbled. Then he started waving his hands, and suddenly a huge vortex arrived on the floor... and in the vortex they could see Inuyasha's friends. And oh how sad they looked. Especially the girl Inuyasha had mentioned. They all sat on a wooden bench in front of an old hut, talking something, but Inuyasha couldn't make out, what.

"She looks devastated..." Inutaisho said, sad, looking at his son, who's dog ears were drooping. He would never wanted to make his friends so sad because of him.

"Well, are you sure you want Kagome Higurashi as your protege?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay now, as I told you, we don't just eat, sleep and play games in here", Inutaisho told as they were on their way towards their home room. "Most of us protect people – humans, youkais and hanyous alike - back at the world of the living. And now that you have been chosen to protect Ms. Higurashi..."

"...Just Kagome", Inuyasha pointed out.

"Yes, just Kagome... Chosen to protect Kagome, you could start your work any minute."

"What is it like being an angel?" Inuyasha asked when they were getting closer to their home room.

"You'll get to the dimension of the living. But without an actual body. You can move everywhere, fly, even go through material. But noboy, not even any other souls will be able to see or hear you even if you are in the same place at the same time. Not sense you in any way."

"How is that possible? Almost all souls work in the world at the same time! How couldn't we see each other?"

"I can't answer you. That's just how it is. But remember this, my son: if you Ever notice your protege see or hear you, tell me or the King about it!"

"Why? Why would it be so bad?"

"The knowledge of the Afterlife must never spread into the land of the living. So remember, if someone ever senses you, tell us right away!"

The King decided Inuyasha to start his angel-work tomorrow. The rest of the day he spent wandering around the castle. He was very excited about getting to see Kagome, even though he knew She wouldn't see Him. Inutaisho was currently in the land of the living, with Sesshomaru. Inuyasha's lack of hugs towards his mother had subsided somewhat, but he couldn't help but smile always when he saw her. He was happier than ever.

Now he was standing at the castle's main door. He saw children and youth playing dodgeball together as a huge crowd.

"Inuyasha!" one player shouted. It was Zaki! "Come play with us! You don't seem to have work yet don't you?"

"I'll start tomorrow", Inuyasa nodded. He stepped to the crowd and looked around. There were every kind of people: humans, full youkais and hanyous. "Don't you guys have any work then?"

"Sure. We're just having some recess now", Zaki answered. "Every guardian soul can work just as much as they wish – and, also, as little as they wish. But usually – maybe always - the person we souls choose are dear to us, so we actually Want to protect them as Much as possible."

"But come on, Inu! Join the game!" a young human boy shouted. Inuyasha's ears went drooping.

"...What is it?" Zaki asked, tilting his head, throwing the ball to Inuyasha.

"I can't play."

"What do you mean you 'cant play'?" Zaki raised his eyebrow.

"...Well, I have bad memories of playing ball..." he mumbled. All the hanyous of the crowd looked at each other, and Zaki sighed.

"We know what you mean."

"Hm? You do?" Inuyasha's ears lift up.

"Of course. I believe you had a horrible life – we all hanyous have."

"But here we are all friends!" another child winked.

"Well, can you play?"

"Hell yeah!"

And this game was Inuyasha's first that he enjoyed. The game was long, but one by one kids started stopping the game and walked away. Now it was only Inuyasha and Zaki left.

"Where did they go?" Inuyasha asked his friend.

"To work. The world of the living. I'll be leaving in a few minutes. I wish you luck for your first protection day tomorrow!"

A young teen-aged girl walked in the woods with a reed basked in her hands, carrying herbs and mushrooms. And she wasn't alone.

"Kagome..." an old lady sighed and touched the girl's shoulder. "Come on, we'll get back home."

"...Yeah..." that girl, Kagome, nodded, and started following the lady. She had been very depressed, more like devastated. She had just lost her infatuation. Her love. But after his funeral, she had an idea...

"But we must do it!" Kagome shouted. They were all sitting in Kaede's hut, just spending time and waiting for the fish soup to get ready. "We must gather the Shikon full! Then I will make the wish and bring Inuyasha back to life!"

Everyone else nodded nodded, approbatively. Shippo and Kirara wagged their tails.

"But dear child", Kaede sighed. "even the power of Shikon can't bring back the dead."

A short moment of silence.

"...How do you know?" Kagome asked, quietly. Kaede seemed like she was about to say something, but closed her mouth and sighed.

"Well, I guess I can't stop ye."

"You must understand that now that... that Inuyasha is not here anymore...I wont be here that much..." said Kagome, who was just about to return to the present. Miroku, Sango with the baby in her arms, Shippo and Kaede were standing in front of her. "But of course I'll be back! Next week maybe... We will gather the Shikon full, that's for sure!"

"Just rest a bit in your era", Miroku nodded. Kagome nodded and jumped down the well. And so she was transferred 500 years to the future, to the present Japan.

"Mama, I'm... home", Kagome shouted, sad. She could hear cheering from the kitchen, and so her mother, her grandpa and Souta ran to her.

"Hello, darling!" Mrs. Higurashi greeted. "You have been gone for a while! How is Inuyasha's cough? Has the medicine helped...?"

"No, he... He..." And so Kagome broke in tears and fell in her mother's arms.

"What's with you, sis?" Souta wondered.

"Inuyasha is dead."

Kagome walked up the stairs to her room and sat down on her bed. She looked those three framed photos of Inuyasha on her nigthstand. In the left one he was sitting on a swing of her school yard. He had that adorable blue bandana to cover his dog ears... And in the right one, he was eating pancakes with her. She remembered that day, when her mother made those pancakes... And how Inuyasha loved them... And in the middle he was holding her fat cat Buyo in his arms. Kagome burst in tears again, so loud that her mother couldn't help but hear it. She walked to her daughter's room's door and knocked.

"Darling, may I come in?" she asked.

"M-mmhm..." Kagome sobbed. Mrs. Higurashi came in and sat next to her. She laid her arm on top of her daughter's shoulders and rocked her gently.

That night Kagome didn't sleep.


	5. The first day of work

5 – The first day of work

"Wake up, my son."

...

"Inuyasha, up!"

Inuyasha opened his eyes and saw his father sitting beside him. The boy sat up and yawned a few times.

"Now what?" he asked, getting up, scratching his ear with his foot.

"Today's the day – your first day of work!"

"You get transferred to the world of the living through Light Portals. There are lots of them, even I don't know how many. But it's not about where the Portal is, but who is going through. We people of this castle use the same Portal", Inutaisho told his son as they walked through the castle. "It might be a bit difficult at first, learning to fly and not getting seen, but don't worry, you will learn."

"Aren't there any schools or such for that?" Inuyasha asked.

"No. Everyone must learn it all by themselves. Believe me, I was all thumbs too when I came here!" Inutaisho laughed, but somehow Inuyasha didn't really believe that.

And so they arrived to a huge, crowded rock. Inutaisho led his son with him to the queue. The queue went forward fast, and in no time Inuyasha was standing on the top of the rock, looking down – there was nothing there! Lord knows how deep it was. As if you were standing above clouds. Inuyasha's ears went drooping.

"You're telling me to jump off a ciff into the void?"

"You kept jumping down a dried well too!" Inutaisho laughed and pet his son's back. "Or are you scared?"

"Hell no!" And so Inuyasha closed his eyes, took deep breath, jumped off the cliff and disappeared. Inutaisho smiled. He was proud of his son, as he had seen many young souls going for their first protection days – they never got down the Portal for the first time this easy!

Inuyasha felt weird. What had happened? He felt tranquil wind... but still weird. He opened his eyes – and there he was, laying on the roots of the Goshinboku. Not the feudal Goshinboku, but the one growing in the middle of the Higurashi temple. There were some candles on the roots.

Inuyasha got quickly up and for a while just turned around and round, looking up and down... Then he sniffed the air. Wow! His sense of smell was more keen than ever! But it wasn't the feeling that 'called' him. He just felt like something was waiting for him in there – the Higurashi house.

Inuyasha got up, but suddenly started rising from the groungd. He was floating like a bubble and couldn't control himself. He span around, flailing. Oh God this was embarrassing! Maybe it was better that nobody saw him!

It took a while, but finally Inuyasha managed to float into Kagome's room. The window was open – Kagome wanted to make sure if Inuyasha would come, he was welcome and would get in.

Inuyasha floated in. And there she was, packing her school bag.

"Darling, shouldn't you rest for a few days?" Mrs. Higurashi pleaded.

"Yeah you should!" Inuyasha barked, when something creepier than ever happened – Kagome walked through him.

"BAH!" Inuyasha flinched and shook himself like a dog.

"No, Mama... I must... Get over this."

Kagome left the house. As her junior high was next to the elementary school there her little brother Souta was in, they walked hand in hand all the way.

"I'm very sorry for you, sis", Souta said, sad. "I know I can't feell your pain, but I did like Inuyasha too..."

Inuyasha was following the duo, floating a few meters above Kagome. He was feeling very nervous. What was he supposed to do? What would a skilled "guardian angel" do?

Kagome and Souta arrived to the lights. They stopped when the lights were red for them... But suddenly she was about to take a step towards the cars driving through fast.

"Kagome! Hey! No!" Inuyasha screamed, even knowing nobody would hear him. But then Inuyasha felt something inside him, some kind of a power...and Kagome stopped, stood still for a moment, and retreated.

"Sis! What did you think you were doing?!" Souta shouted, pulling his sister's sleeve.

"...I dont know."

"But I know! You tried to kill yourself!" Inuaýasha shouted, trying to do his best getting heard... no good. But something had just happened. Was it Inuyasha who had stopped Kagome from committing suicide?

Inuyasha followed his progete all the way to the school. The girl walked in and found her way towards her class. Then suddenly...

"Kagome!" a girl's voice sounded behind her. She turned around and saw her three friends. "Nice to see you!"

"Thank you..." Kagome said with a sad face.

"Hey... Are you alright?" Yuka, one of the girls, asked, worried.

"What a stupid question!" Inuyasha snorted and circled the girls through the air.

Suddenly Kagome started crying. The trio got startled and started rushing.

"Uh, it's...it's okay, Kagome!" Ayumi, the girl with curly hair, said. "What should we do?" she asked in Eri's ear.

"Should we take her to the nurse?" Eri suggested. "Maybe she's still weak from her pneumonia..."

'Pneumonia...' Kagome sighed in her head. That must have been the latest excuse of Kagome being out of school her grandpa had made up.

And so Kagome was escorted through the school to the nurse.

"Take care", Yuka said as she Kagome's other friends left. Kagome was sitting on a chair in front of the nurse, looking simply horrible. And Inuyasha noticed that.

"Aww, Kagome, please don't..." he sighed and sat down on the floor next to the chair in his dog pose like a dog beside his owner. But of course, the girl burst in tears.

"Hi there, Kagome", the nurse said with a gentle voice, stroking her hair. "I can see you are not here for somatic reasons."

"M-hmm..." Kagome nodded, wiping her tears in her shirt's sleeve.

"Is there maybe something oppressing you?"

Kagome sat still, staring at the floor.

"Yes", she finally said.

"Has something bad happened?"

"...Yes."

"Would you like to tell me about it?"

For a while thought should she tell or should she not. When finally:

"I lost my dearest friend..."

"Just 'friend'?" Inuyasha mumbled, maybe a bit grumpy.

"No... Maybe... my love."

"...Love...?" First Inuyasha's ears shot up, but then went drooping.

"I'm very sorry to hear that", the nurse smiled sadly. "Have you done something self-destructive?"

"Yeah, kinda..." the girld mumbled. "But... Nothing serious", she lied.

"... I can see you are not well. I can see it right through you. You must understand this is serious", the nurse said and turned towards her computer screen. "I'll send a referral to a youth psychiatrist. They can help you. And now I will send you home for a few days to rest."

Kagome didn't resist. She took her backpack and started finding her way out of the school. Inuyasha was walking right by her side. Then he remembered this moment last summer: when they were walking on the grassy hill together, holding hands, feeling the wind in their hair... But when Inuyasha tried to grab Kagome's hand... now it just went through.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha whimpered. This job was sure a lot harder than he had ever thought!

Then they arrived at Kagome's home. Inuyasha floated above the girl. She opened the door and closed so that it went straight through Inuyasha's head. He let out a howl, but nobody could hear it.

"I'm home..." Kagome said miserably.

"Hello, darling", her mother greeted. "You came home early..." she saw her daughter taking off her shoes. The girl took a few steps towards her mother, and turned her eyes to her's. After staring for a while, she burst in tears and rushed into her mother's arms.

Inuyasha followed this scene from a few meters away.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha mumbled, feeling so sorry for her. He never wanted to cause this much grief to any of his friends. Never!

Kagome spent a long time cuddled in her mother's arms.

"I can't bear my life anymore!" Kagome cried. Mrs. Higurashi tightened her hug.

"There is maybe nothing I could say that would ease your pain..." she shushed. "But I made ramen for dinner. He did like ramen didn't he?"

"Bon appetit", Mrs. Higurashi said quietly, and everyone started eating. Inuyasha was sitting under the table by Kagome's feet. He was sniffing the air – oh if he only could eat that ramen! But oh well, he could get all the ramen he wanted back in the Afterlife.

Now Kagome had changed to her pajamas. She walked to the bathroom, starting to brush her teeth. Inuyasha had followed her all the way.

After brushing her teeth she wished her family good night and got into her room, turning the ceiling lights off, and the smaller desk lamp on. She sat on her bed, grabbed one of the photos and sighed.

"Inuyasha..." she mumbled.

"K-Kagome?" Inuyasha twitched. "Can you hear me-?" but he was interrupted with this:

"I wish so much that you are now in a better place."

Inuyasha's eyes were like saucers. The girl laid down, and Inuyasha stroke her, even though his hand just went through her shoulder.

"Don't be afraid. I will protect you. I'm your angel", Inuyasha whispered in her ear.

After Kagome fell asleep Inuyasha returned to the Afterlife through his portal, which was in front of the Goshinboku in the Higurashi shrine. Inuyasha floated to it and set on his feet on it's roots, closing his eyes and touching the tree's trunk. And when he opened his eyes next time, he was standing on the edge of the same rock which he had jumped off this morning. He was back home.

"Inuyasha!" called out a young man's voice. Inuyasha turned around and saw Zaki.

"Hiya", Inuyasha waved his hand.

. "Well, how was your first day of work?" Zaki asked.

"Hm... It was more... harder that I'd ever thought", Inuyasha mumbled. "It's so hard to see her suffer."

"That is just what makes our work matter. But don't worry, it will be okay, you will learn."

Inuyasha and Zaki walked back to the castle together. Their ways diverged at the main door, since Zaki lived on the other side of the castle. Inuyasha found his way to his family's room, opened it's door and got in.

"Hi, Mom and Dad", Inuyasha greeted.

"Hello!" Inutaisho lift his hand as a greeting. "Well, how was your first day?"

Izayoi pet the floor next to her, and Inuyasha sat there in his dog pose.

"Good but... Kinda hard."

Izayoi stroke her son's dog ear.

"I don't know how you feel, since I have never had a protege. But I Have seen you suffer..." she said.

"Oh yea, I was wondering why aren't you working! Why is that?" Inuyasha asked eyes wide.

"There are three types of souls: weak, normal and strong. While you and your father are both strong, I am just weak."

"Mh... Yea. It was very hard. Maybe it's better that you don't do it", Inuyasha nodded.

* * *

There will be humor coming in the next chapet, believe me! Please review! ;)


	6. His name is Inuyasha

Okay! Now it's time for some humor! And even though this IS a tragedy-story, there will be some little humor coming up here and there.

6 – His name is Inuyasha

Kagome had been given the rest of the week free from school. She had also been placed to a youth psychiatrist. And today was her first session with a psychologist.

Inuyasha was with them. As Kagome filled some papers Inuyasha was laying on a red sofa on the other side of the room. And then they started talking.

After a long conversation between Kagome and the psychologist, Inuyasha was about to doze off, but then he heard the words:

"You should get a new friend. Maybe a pet?" the psychologist suggested.

"We have a cat..." Kagome mumbled.

"What about a puppy? Dogs are ideal to make people usually very happy."

'I know that...' Kagome thought. "Well, I guess I'll talk about it with my Mama."

'A... dog?' Inuyasha thought with his ears up. He had an idea!

He knew he had a strong soul. That's what the King himself had told him. Could he maybe... turn into something real? Of course he could, he was sure of it! Somehow! ...But _how_?

Inuyasha was following Kagome through the youth psychiatry polyclinic. He circled around her, knowing there was no way she'd be able to sense him in any way... But then Inuyasha floated just in front of her and touched his nose against her nose...

Kagome flinched. And so did Inuyasha.

"K-Kagome...?"

Kagome stood still and didn't say anything. She just held her cheeks and shook her head for a while, sobbed a few times, continuing her walk.

"I can do it... I know I can!" Inuyasha decided - he would become Kagome's pet dog!

But what could he do? He himself had no idea how to do it, and, to be honest, he wasn't 100% sure was turning into a real animal - something he hasn't really been - even possible. And that was something he couldn't ask his parents for help – they were the ones who had prohibited it. Then he got it!

"Zaki..." Inuyasha mumbled by himself.

After Inuyasha had escorted Kagome home, he decided to have a recess. He could only hope Zaki would be somewhere around... And after wandering around the yards and following his senses, Inuyasha arrived to the dragon-temple. Zaki being a dragon, Inuyasha wasn't surprised finding him from there. The dragon boy was sitting on his knees, eyes closed, praying. Inuyasha walked to him quietly.

"Hi, Inu", Zaki whispered, but didn't move or open his eyes. Inuyasha twitched his ears and sat down next to him.

"What are you doing?" the dog boy asked. But then he turned his eyes to Zaki – he looked very sad. He had been crying. That wasn't like him. "Zaki?"

"My protege is about to die tomorrow..." Zaki mumbled. "I know it's not my fault but...Of course, I'm not sad of him dying, but that he has to suffer these last moments. He's very sick with leukemia... he's suffering... Of course I'm happy that tomorrow he will be released from his pain... But, like with everyone else, there will be a lot of people who's hearts will be crushed after he dies..."

Inuyasha tilted his head and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Yea, I know... I'm sorry... Seeing my friends grieve because of me dying is horrible..." Inuyasha said quiet, said.

"But..." Zaki stopped his prayer. "You didn't come here to pity me didn'tcha?"

"Yeah... I mean no", Inuyasha nodded. "Now, before I say anything, you must promise you won't tell anyone about this."

"I'm listening."

"I'm positive that my protege has some kind of a conncetion to me... She sensed me somehow, I'm sure of it! And now when I followed to her to a psychologist, they were talking about her getting a dog..."

"Let me guess: You want to become her dog?"

Inuyasha nodded fast. Zaki grinned.

"Why are you telling me this?" the dragon asked.

"I just thought if you'd know how I can change into a real animal..."

"How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I would know how to", Zaki said, surprised. "You see, I'm a very old soul. Even older than your father. I have actually helped a few souls back to the world of the living..."

"Really? Can you do it for me?"

"Not really", Zaki sighed. "I can help people turn back to their Real form that they were born in the world of the living, not anything else. For example, I couldn't turn you to a full demon either. I'm sorry. You must find the way to transform by yourself."

A week went by. Kagome was maybe getting slowly back on her feet, but now it was her time to return to the feudal era. She had packed her backpack with some normal stuff – medicine and some food, but also something she had never brought there before – one of the photos of Inuyasha. She thought it would cheer up her friends.

Inuyasha was rushing through the castle. Shit! He was late! His father had left to work over than an hour ago without waking up his son, and his mom was doing her own work.

Nowadays Inuyasha had no problem jumping down the portal. He always arrived in front of the modern era Goshinboku... But this time he saw Kagome running through the yard, towards the small hut, where the Bone-eater's Well was. Inuyasha followed her and saw her jump down, disappearing in a flash of light. Inuyasha wasn't sure would he be able to do the transfer as he wasn't really material, but, oh well, why not try?

So he closed his eyes and shot down like a hawk... And when he opened his eyes, he looked up, and saw the blue sky with beautiful clouds. Yes! He was home!

He floated up the well and saw Kagome walking towards the pathway that led to Kaede's village. Inuyasha followed her.

They arrived at the village. And they saw their friends standing in front of Kaede's hut.

"Kagome!" Shippo cheered and rushed to Kagome, jumping into her arms. Miroku and Sango. walked to her, smiling, maybe still a bit sad.

"Have you been feeling any better?" Miroku asked.

"Maybe..." the girl mumbled, clearly sad, but as she turned her eyes towards Shippo who laid in her arms like a baby bunny, she couldn't help but smile.

"Here..." Kagome said as they all sat in the hut and Kagome was unpacking her sat between Kagome and Kaede, his ears drooping. The girl took out the photo of Inuyasha and stared at it for a while. Then she handed it over to Kaede, who looked at it melancholicly.

"He was one of a beautiful soul..."she sighed.

"Thanks", Inuyasha said, looking at the old lady with a sad face. As Kaede gave the photo to Miroku, her hand and the photo went right through Inuyasha.. He didn't even flinch – he had got used to this. Miroku took it, had a look, nodded, and handed it to Sango.

Another few days went by. Kagome was at school, Inuyasha by her side, but right now he was spending time with his mother . They sat in their home room side by side with his mother

in their home room, eyes closed. Inuyasha still couldn't get bored with his mother's indivisible attention. But after a while Inuyasha opened his eyes and sighed.

"I should be goin' now", Inuyasha said and stood up. "I'll be back maybe by dinner."

"Good luck, honey", Izayoi nodded with a beautiful smile.

Inuyasha arrived at the portal. How weird – there was no-one else in there. Inuyasha climbed up the rock and looked down to the void. He took a deep a breath and thought of something.

'I wanna be a dog... I wanna be a dog... I Wanna Be A DOG!' he shouted in his mind, holding his hands against his chest. He felt a pulse. No, not his heart – someting much stronger. He could feel it. He stood still for a while, and so he jumped down.

This time the transition was... different? Inuyasha felt cold wind blow against him, and some tingling all around his body. He felt his body shape change. And finally he found himself laying on ground, just where he always appeared when he came to this world – the roots of the Goshinboku. But...

"What the HELL!?" Inuyasha shouted out as he saw he had no human feet – he had paws! He had dog ears just like always– but they were bigger and maybe a bit fluffier. He had a tail, but the worst thing was when he lift up his hind leg and looked between them...

"I'm naked!" he screamed and crossed his legs. He looked around, anxious, not knowing what to do. But then he could smell someone getting closer – it was Kagome! Inuyasha hid behind the tree quickly and saw the girl walk into the house. Inuyasha knew now it was his moment to show up to her, so he ran towards the house, jumped up so that he could float in from Kagome's room's open window, but... He bumped against the bulding's wall and fell on ground on his back. He couldn't fly anymore!

"Grrrh..." Inuyasha growled and got up.

He just sat there, under Kagome's window. Now what? Then he got it!

He started howling.

Kagome heard that. She was just doing her homework, but when she heard the howl, she stopped instantly, rushed to her window, and saw the dog. It was young, medium size, white and fluffy, with (cute) pointy ears. Could it be an Akita? After seeing Kagome, Inuyasha stopped howling and started panting and wagging his tail playfully. He didn't really mean to do it, he just did. It was like a reflex. Kagome stared at him for a while, which made him really happy, until suddenly the girl ran away from the window.

"H-hey!" the boy barked, angry. His barking and howling could be heard, but not his words.

"Mama!" the girl shouted to her mother when she found her from downstairs. "There's a dog there in the yard! Come and see!"

And so they ran out of the house and saw the dog standing in front of the house.

"The puppy... that the psychologist recommended", Kagome wondered as they got out. There they stood – a few meters from him. Inuyasha tilted his head and jogged casually to Kagome, who had knelt down to his level. Inuyasha started to sniff her hands that stroke his head, wagging his tail. For a while Kagome just stroke him, until a smile spread on her face.

"You're so adorable..." she said quietly. "Can we keep him, Mama?" Mrs. Higurashi was speechless.

"But dear, are you sure you can take care of a puppy?" Mrs. Higurashi asked when Kagome let Inuyasha in the house. "And what about Buyo?"

Inuyasha heard that, and wanted to answer that question right away. He searched Buyo by sniffing the air, and there he, the fat cat, was, laying on living room's sofa, lazy. Inuyasha jogged to him and barked twice. As he assumed, the cat didn't even flinch. Kagome and her mother heard the bark, thoguht Inuyasha was picking on the poor cat, and ran to them.

"Bad do-!" Kagome was going to shout at him, but suddenly saw Inuyasha curled up on the sofa with cat between his legs. The Higurashis stopped and looked at the cat and dog getting along.

"Well, Mama, see?"

Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "Yes, we can keep him!"

"Now, we must go buy some dog accessories", Mrs. Higurashi said. Inuyasha was sitting right at Kagome's feet like a guradian dog. Kagome turned her head towards him and stroke his head.

"He needs a collar... And a nameplate", Mrs. Higurashi said. "But first... You have to name him."

First Kagome said nothing, but then...

"He's Inuyasha."

And so Inuyasha's ears shot up. Could this be just because she wanted to cherish his memory? Or did she know the dog she would call her pet was Actually his dead love, Inuyasha?

But then, a collar.

"What would you think if he'd have a rivet collar?"Mrs. Higurashi asked, smiling, maybe joking a bit. For a while Kagome just turned her head and and circled Inuyasha, when she finally got it!

"Wait a second!" she said and ran up the stairs to her room. Inuyasha and Mrs. Higurashi both stared after her, then turned at each other. But something made Mrs. Higurashi feel strange in that dog's eyes. She felt like she had seen those eyes before.

Kagome came back from upstairs, both hands behind her back, smiling a bit. She stopped in front of her mother and pet dog.

"Guess which hand?"

Of course she thought that as a dog, Inuyasha didn't understad a word she just said, but Inuyasha started sniffing her all the way behind her, and licked hand where she held something... But it was something he didn't like! They were the beads of subjugation! Kagome reached towards the dog boy, about to put the rosary on his neck, but he retreated.

"Inuyasha, please..." Kagome said a bit sad. "Let me put these on. It would mean a lot to me... it would make me happy."

For a while Inuyasha did nothing, but as he saw Kagome started looking sad, he finally took a few steps towards the girl, sat down and stared at her. Kagome smiled and put the rosary on.

"Good boy, Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha turned his ears down for a few seconds. Ah, so humiliating...

"Now, darling, lets get to the pet shop."

They were just about to leave, but Kagome wasn't sure should they take Inuyasha with them or leave him home.

"Dogs don't always go everywhere their owners do", Mrs. Higurashi told as she and her daughter were about to leave.

"...Alright", Kagome nodded and turned towards her new puppy. "We will be back soon, don't be afraid."

Inuyasha sat down, trying to make it clear that he would be fine. But it wasn't like he was going to wait for them to return – he would go back to the Afterlife for a while, for a little break. So much had happened today.

* * *

A little humor in a tragedy-fic. What do you think, what was the funniest scene? Please, review or maybe even follow ;)


	7. How to keep a secret

7 – How to keep a secret

Inuyasha had just returned back to Afterlife from his first few hours of work day as a dog, but he should be back in two or three hours, when Kagome and her mother would return from the pet shop. But one thing he had forgot about – how could he always be there? First, he should be there as her "angel" through the day... But what about her family? What would they think if the new family dog was gone all day, appearing at the same time when Kagome comes home from school? How could he explain the Afterlife-people where he spends all his time and almost never stays even for a little break?

He was screwed. He should have thought about this before getting mixed in this mess.

Well, Inuyasha decided to have a fast bowl of ramen with a few other hanyous in the dining hall's verandah. He just spun his chopsticks around the noodles without saying anything. Finally one hanyou girl with black hair turned towards him, looking worried.

"Are you alright, Inuyasha?" she asked. Now everyone turned towards the dog boy. He wasn't sure what to say.

"I...uh..."

"Having problems with protecting?" one hanyou boy asked. Inuyasha didn't want to talk about this with anyone else than Zaki.

"Maybe... you could put it that way... But... Ah, forget it."

Inuyasha was just on his way to the portal. He tried thinking all possible ways he could to manage living in the land of the living and the Afterlife at the same time without getting caught in neither.

He knew how to turn into his "angel" form, and how as a dog. He only needed to concentrate in the pulse in his chest and image himself as a dog. Otherwise he would turn an angel; the form he would spend most of his time, as Kagome's guardian angel.

Well, there he stood, on the huge roots of the Goshinboku, on the Higurashi shrine yard, in his dog form. He didn't really know what to do – until in just about a minute, he could smell Kagome. Oh shit! He was late!

Inuyasha started jogging towards the house's door and managed to scratch it few times. Then he could hear Kagome's call from her room's window:

"Inuyaa-shaa! Come here, boy! Inuyashaa! Where are you, Inuyashaa!"

Inuyasha quickly ran in front of the window, wagging his tail.

"Inuyasha!" Kagom shouted with a smile. "Come in!" she said and disappeared from the window. Inuyasha wasn't stupid – he knew she was going to come open the door for him. And so she did.

Kagome had started making her homework as Inuyasha laid on her bed.

"I was very worried about you", the girl said, not even raising her face from the books, concentrating on her studies. But suddenly Kagome closed her books and stretched a few times.

"Now, Inuyasha", she said, got up took her big yellow backpack from her closet, "I'll be going to the feudal era."

She packed her backpack heavily. After finishing her packing and saying goodbyes to her family, she walked to the small hut in the middle of their home yard. Inuyasha followed her faithfully. But then they got to the dried well. Kagome gave a sad look upon him.

"Inuyasha, stay", she said, pointing at the ground. The boy turned his ears back and bared his fangs a bit. Even being a dog, he hated being treated like a one.

Kagome's eyes widened. What? Well, he she didn't think about it more than that and said: "I will be back in... Well, it will take a maybe a day or two but... Mama will take care of you."

And so the girl jumped down the well, disappearing in a flash of light.

'You ain't gonna get rid of me this easy!' Inuyasha thought and followed his master by jumping down the well.

Kagome had just arrived on the bottom of the well, and just when she was about to start climbing up the ladder, lights shone again – it was Inuyasha.

"W-what the...?!"

Inuyasha looked around. He was there! And not as a spirit – but as a real dog!

'He is a white dog... He acts a bit grumpy sometimes... he can go through time...' Kagome thought by herself... But then he saw Inuyasha scratch his ear, get up and shake himself like a dog with his tongue out. No way. That was not Inuyasha. That's what her brain said. But her heart had started pounding stronger than normally when she reached out tothe dog and stroke it's neck. After she stopped, she sighed and shook her head.

But now, they both had to get out of of the well. Inuyasha couldn't climb up the ladder. Then Kagome got an idea!

"Inuyasha, come", she said and lift the dog on her back. "Don't let go. We'll be up the well in just a few seconds."

And so they climbed out of the well. Inuyasha looked all around. Even though he loved it back at the Afterlife with his parents, he was missing the 'real world' sometimes.

"Come, Inuyasha", Kagome said, petting her thigh. "I'll show you my friends!"

They walked the forest pathway towards Kaede's village. Inuyasha wagged his tail. Again, Kagome had her thoughts. And then...

"Kagomee!" shouted Shippo, who was sitting on the bench in front of Kaede's hut with Sango with her baby in her arms next to him. Sango's eyes widened when she saw the dog.

"A...a dog?" Sango said her eyes wide. "Where did you get that from?"

"I know", said Shippo. "He's an Inuyasha subsitute isn't he? You bought him from a dog-raiser!"

"N-no! He arrived under my window and..."

Miroku and Kaede walked out of the hut, summoned by Shippo's shout.

Miroku raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything, turning towards Kaede. The old lady walked to the dog.

"He is adorable", she said as she knelt down, starting to stroke him, smiling. Then she turned at Kagome.

"But, my child", the lady said, sad, "I understand ye want to replace Inuyasha, but he is dead. He is not a puppy that maybe wandered around the streets at 500 years after his home era."

"B-but-!" Kagome stammered.

"I'm not saying ye can't keep him", Kaede said, "but remember; this is not Inuyasha. This is a young male dog."

Inuyasha seemed a bit embarrassed of her saying he was a 'male' dog. That meant she had been looking between his legs.

Inuyasha turned his ears back.

"I think ya are right, Kagome", said Shippo, as they all had dinner in Kaede's hut. Even Inuyasha had his share. "He DOES feel like the real Inuyasha... A puppy-yasha."

Inuyasha growled, but concentrated on his soup bowl.

Night came, and everyone was about to go asleep. Mattresses were put on floor, one for everyone. Nowadays, as Miroku and Sango were married and even had a child, they were sleeping side by side. As Miroku had a woman he really loved nowadays, he wasn't lecherous anymore. No groping, no asking other women to 'bear his child'. Kirara wanted to give them some privacy – she didn't sleep beside Sango anymore. Nowadays she slept curled up a few feet from them on floor.

Kagome got on her mattress. She took a comfortable position and closed eyes for a few seconds... But saw Inuyasha sitting at the door, like a guardian dog. The girl smiled.

"Psst! Inuyasha!" she smiled and pet the floor as he heard her and turned towards her. "Come! Come to me!"

Inuyasha's ears pointed up, and after thinking for a few seconds, he walked to Kagome, curled up against her chest and closed his eyes.

"Good boy, Inuyasha!" Kagome whispered, wrapped her arm over him like a teddybear and smiled, closing her eyes.

But poor Shippo saw he had no place to go. He looked around like a lost child, when suddenly Kaede sat up and whispered:

"Come here, child."

Shippo smiled and tiptoed to the old woman. They cuddled together and fell asleep.

But even as perfect as this night was, Inuyasha couldn't sleep. Right after everyone else in the hut had fallen asleep, Inuyasha had to return to the Afterlife.

He was bit nervous about how would others react to him being in the world of the living almost all day.

Now he was on his way towards his family's room. He didn't answer the greetings he got on his way in the corridors. He was screwed. So so so screwed. He tried to make up excuses for his absence. He opened the door to his family room. Both his father and mother were in. Inutaisho was sitting behind Izayoi, massaging her shoulders. Inuyasha came in and sat down in front of his mother..

"Oh! We were getting so worried about you, honey!" Izayoi said and held her son's hands. "I know you want to give your loved one the best care, but you must not overdo it."

"But you're... not angry with me?" the boy asked quietly.

"Angry? For being hardworking? No, no", Inutaiso shook his head with a calm expression with a small smile and pet his son's back so hard the boy almost fell over.

It was late, but Inuyasha really needed to find Zaki. First, he had no idea where he could be. But he was sure he would find him from the dragon-temple.

And there he was – but not alone. With him there was a young adult man, maybe around 20. He was tall and the only way to tell that he was not human was that he had sharp blades of bones peeking out from the back of his hands and arms. Inuyasha knew who this person would be even without Zaki even had time to tell it.

"Hi, Inu", Zaki greeted, raising his hand. Inuyasha nodded. "This is my cousin, Ryouichi. He's a dragon hanyou just like me. He just came and I'm showing him around."

"Can I ask you how did'ya die? I mean, I died of illness..." Inuyasha mumbled.

"Yea, me too. I got leukemia, if you know what it is... What was your illness?"

Inuyasha just shrugged. "No idea. I just got something like a really bad flu or pneumonia of somethin', but then... things just got worse, I was freezing, couldn't breathe and I... I just passed out and woke up in here."

"That's how is always goes", Zaki nodded. "Dying always feels like passing out – no matter do you burn or drown, get poisoned or sick or, like, pierced by an axe."

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted. "I would have rather be pierced by an axe and have a fast death than be deadly sick for a month!"

A short moment of silcence.

"While, actually, I have had my stomach pierced without dying... So I know how painful it is to be deadly wounded..." Inuyasha said.

"Yes, well, that's how it goes. We all have our own ways of dying", Zaki said.

"How did you die?" Inuyasha asked, looking at Zaki.

"I was in the middlle of a huge fight and fell off a cliff. I didn't even reach the cliff's bottom before I woke up in here. BUT! Inuyasha, you must have had something else on your mind did you?"

"Yea, well... It's something I 'd prefer only you to hear."

Zaki looked at Inuyasha for a few seconds.

"Ryouichi, you stay here at the temple and wait a sec, I'll be back!"

Inuyasha and Zaki sure didn't go far, only behind the temple.

"Lemme guess", Zaki sighed. "Problems in the world of the living?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"Kinda. This might be a bit hard to believe but I managed to transform into a real dog."

"...No way!" Zaki said his eyes wide. "You're incredible! Only Very-Super-Hyper-Strong souls are able to do that and even they shouldn't! Th-they-! Hey!"

"Even the King told me my soul is very strong", Inuyasha said, maybe a bit proud. "But how can it be that You can't turn into a living being?"

"..." Zaki went quiet. "...Let's say I tried and... things didn't work out..."

Inuyasha knew he had said something he shouldn't have and laid his hand on his friend's shoulder. After a moment silence Zaki sighed and looked at Inuyasha.

"Okay now, let's stop this angsting. Tell me why you wanted to talk to me."

"This protege of mine can travel through time. She came from 500 years in the future, and only she and I can go through the well – the portal – to both eras. But there's absolutely no way I can be at two places at once! I must look after her as much as possible at school as an angel and after school, a dog... But her mother is home 24/7! What does she think that the family's new pet dog is gone always just as much as Kagome is? What can I do?"

A pretty long moment of silence. Zaki looked like he was thinking. Then:

"...I have an idea!"

Inuyasha pointed his ears towards his friend.

"Here goes: Add one more dimension to spend time in – look after your protege in your angel form normally, and when you want or it's possible, do it in your dog-form."

"But I can't spend all my time in the world of the living just switching forms-!"

"Let me finish", Zaki said, calm. "You will actually move to the feudal era. Make everyone think you 'spend your time in the woods' all day. All your feudal era friends will think that as a wild dog it is completely normal that you are on your way most of the time. Now, when Kagome will also get to understand you are in the feudal era, her mother wont be worried you being gone all day. It's simple – everyone thinks you are wandering out in woods, as you really are doing your guardian angel work. Of course, show up often in both eras, as a dog. Just hang out with your friends, but remember – if you need or just want to come here to the Afterlife for a break or somethin', make sure everyone thinks you are in the forest and not disappeared.

"Thank you so much, Zaki! You must be the Best friend I've had!" Inuyasha grinned, and they high fived. Zaki smiled, too.

* * *

It's not the first time this happens: a character I make up that first was nothing more than a name that arrived in the story, has started to become a character that I really start to like (for example from two older fics; Mitsuhiro and Reiki from "The Outsiders", and Kuromeru, Karasu, Yun and Hinote from "The Guardian Dog"). Now it's Zaki. He's wise and cunning, always ready to help his friends.

It might be my publishing will slow down a bit... Rewievs, they help meh!


	8. Can it happen again?

8 – Can it happen again?

After plotting with Zaki, Inuyasha decided to stay in the Afterlife for the night, and the next morning he was about to leave the Afterlife and return to Kagome. To the feudal era. But, unlike he was hoping, he didn't arrive to the feudal, but the modern era Goshinboku. This would make it more complicated getting to the feudal era..Quickly, making sure nobody would see him, he ran across the yard all the way to the well in the small shack. He jumped down... Oh hell. He looked up and saw the sky... But he couldn't float in this form. How was he supposed to get up? He turned his face to the ladder... Well, he had to try.

Slowly Inuyasha started climbing up the ladder. It took maybe five minutes, but finally he was up the well. He started sniffing the air. Of course there were many different scents, but one he recognized the best. He followed it and found a man with dark robes, carrying a fishing rod and three big fishes on his shoulders.

Inuyasha barked. This man, Miroku, flinched and turned around.

"Hm, Inuyasha", he smiled. "You don't mind you are called that by name?"

"Hell no", Inuyasha snorted in his head, withtout, ofc course, being heard.

"Follow me, boy. Today we are eating like kings! Sango will fry these fishes and Kaede makes herbal dressing", he talked, even though he thought the dog didn't understand. Still. he talked to him like he was the real Inuyasha. Inuyasha appreciated it.

Back at Kaede's hut: The pan had been on the fire for a while, so it was hot enough for frying of the fish.

The lovely scent of frying fish filled the hut. Inuyasha was laying on floor, on his back, next to Kaede.

"Good boy for comin' back home by yerself. We were worried if ye have been got yerself in trouble", Kaede smiled at the dog boy and pet his tummy a few times. Unlike you'd think, Inuyasha closed his eyes, so that everyone could see he was enjoying this.

Things went like this for a while. Inuyasha stayed by Kagome all her school days as an angel, and usually, after that, with her in her dog form. Of course, he had to keep up his coulisses in the feudal era every now and then. And now he was there.

Now he was jogging beside Miroku in the forest. They were hunting. Miroku had first meant to take Inuyasha just as a scenthound, but something didn't go as planned.

They were sitting in a bush, waiting for a prey to arrive. It took a while. Miroku was just about to give up, when suddenly a pretty small deer stepped in front of the bush, eating the grass. Oddly, it didn't seem to sense the duo in the bush.

Miroku aimed his arrow towards it, but as it finally startled, Miroku accidentally let go of the arrow, and it flew somewhere far away above the tree tops. But Inuyasha was fast: in these few seconds when all this happened, Inuyasha managed to jump to the deer, crunching his fangs to it's throat. Blood scattered everywhere. Inuyasha growled, not letting go.

"Good boy Inuyasha! Hang on for just a few seconds!" Miroku shouted, ran out of the bush and joined the fight with a dagger. As said, it took only a few seconds until the deer was dead. Miroku wiped his forehead.

"Good boy. Really, good boy", he said, panting, taking the deer on his back and pointed his head towards the pathway back to the village. Inuyasha was actually getting used at this 'good-boying' and being stroked and pet all day. Actually, even if he didn't want to admit even to himself, he maybe enjoyed it a bit. Maybe.

They were almost back at the village, when Inuyasha started getting more nice scents... And one that was the best.

"Inuyashaa!" shouted Kagome, when they saw each other at Kaede's hut's door. Inuyasha started panting, jogged to 'his master', wagging his tail. Again, he didn't really mean to do it. It just happened. After ruffling Inuyasha from behind his ears, she turned at Miroku and the deer on his back.

"Wow, Miroku!" she shouted out. "I didn't know you were this good at archery!"

"I wasn't", Miroku admitted. "It was Inuyasha who attacked the deer."

Everyone turned at Inuyasha. His mouth, cheeks and paws were covered in blood. For a while nobody said anything, when finally Kaede knelt down in front of the dog and bared his fangs with her figers, examining then for a while.

"Well he really has amazingly big and sharp fangs..." she mumbled. Then she grabbed his paw and touched his black claws. "And claws as well."

The evening went peacefully. As Miroku had said, they had a great feast, fried fish with herbal dressing. Everyone wanted got back for seconds. And so did Inuyasha.

He started pushing his empty bowl towards Kagome.

"A!" Kagome flinched when the bowl touched his butt. She turned around and saw the dog and the bowl. Kagome smiled.

"Eee, you want more fish?" she chuckled and turned towards others, sitting by the fire. "Is there some more for Inuyasha, too?"

"I think so", Kaede nodded, reached her hand to Kagome, and the girl gave the bowl to her. But when she turned around, something happened.

Inuyasha was panting of joy... But Kagome didn't give him the bowl. She stood up, pointed her finger towards him...

"Inuyasha, sit boy."

KATABLAM!

Everyone went quiet. The dog was laying on floor, squished like a flea.

"I-Inuyasha..." Kagome stammered and knelt down beside him. "A-are you alright? I-Im so sorry, if I just knew this would happen..."

"What is going on...?" Sango wondered. "Could this dog really be...?"

"He's a young, white dog with pointy ears, sharp fangs and teeth... He's strong, can travel through time like me..." Kagome listed. "Let's not be idiots – this is Inuyasha!"

Again, a long silence. Miroku broke it:

"Maybe, but... Inuyasha is dead. That is a fact. Think about it – how on earth would it be possible for a dead person to rescurrect into a dog..."

Kagome sighed with a sad face. She was lost.

Then she reached to the dog and started rubbing his ears.

"Inuyasha, give me a sign that you Are the Real Inuyasha. Give me a sign."

Inuyasha couldn't make up any kind of a way to tell the girl the truth – but, even if he did, he'd be really in great trouble, if he got caught in the Afterlife.

So, Inuyasha only closed his eyes and tilted his head against Kagome's stroking hand. Kagome sighed again. Could this all be just a big coincidende?

Suddenly, a huge crack was heard from outside. Everyone turned their heads towards the door, and Inuyasha got up on his feet, running out from the door right away.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. Miroku and Inuyasha ran out, and saw a snake-like demon. It wasn't that big. That wasn't the only thing they saw. A huge crowd of the village men were trying to fight it.

"Retreat right now!" Miroku shouted. "We will take care of this!"

"Don't be silly! Let us help you!" one sturdy man shouted.

"...Alright, then", Miroku nodded with a serious face. "Inu-!"

But the dog had already attacked the demon. Being the Real Inuyasha, he knew exactly how to kill a demon most fast and easy way. He jumped towards the demon's throat and bit it as hard as he could. Blood started scattering.

"Fire!" a villager shouted, and so everyone released their burning arrows. Miroku threw three soutras against the demon's eyes, and it started roaring. It started slashing like a lunatic, and Inuyasha had a big trouble hanging on. Until finally...

The demon hit Inuyasha with his huge claw. It went all the way through his neck to his spine. Inuyasha let out a howl and fell on ground.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku shouted and ran to him Inuyasha was panting, blood falling from his mouth and the huge wound on his back. Miroku growled, got up from the ground and grabbed his rosary around his right arm.

"Everyone! Run away as fast as you can!"

"B-but-!"

"Just do it!"

And so all the villagers ran into the depths of the forests around the village. Miroku uncovered the black hole in his hand, and shouted:

"Kazaana!"

A huge void in his hand sucked everything that got in it's way. But as Miroku was talented using it, he could spare the houses. And finally, the demon was sucked in.

As it was gone, Miroku put the beads back around his hand. He squeezed it with his left hand, as it was nettling.

"Houshi-sama!" Sango shouted as she ran out ot the hut. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes..." he mumbled, eyes closed, in pain. "But Inuyasha..." he pointed at the dog that laid on a puddle of blood about 15 meters away.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. She ran to the dog and knelt down. Miroku and Sango ran to them. "Inuyasha..." Kagome whispered and stroke the long wound on his spine.

"Aye!" Kaede shouted, coming them with Shippo and the baby in her arms. "Is everything okay?"

The dog boy opened his eyes and looked all around him. He saw Miroku. He saw Sango, Kaede, Shippo and Kagome. He was in insane pain – something he thought he would never have feel again, being a spirit... But he knew he had failed. He would die again.

And so, he closed his eyes, took a few more breaths... Then his ears went limp, and he stopped breathing. Everyone's eyes widened.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. But then something happened. Inuyasha's dead body started glowing in blue light, and started glimmering. And slowly, Inuyasha's body vanished and disappeared completely.

"Inu... Inuyasha..."

In his last seconds Inuyasha knew he was going to die. Die again. But he wasn't sure would it even be possible.

Well, just like the last time, he woke up in the middle of the forest of huge trees, in his hanyou form. He was laying on his back on the grass, not wanting to get up. He didn't even want to think what he would be facing at the castle. He laid there. Just istening to the wind and birds singing. He tried to relax. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. He laid there.

Of course he had to return. So finally he got on his way the same road where he had walked with his father when he had died the first time. His father had been so proud of him. How Inuyasha had managed all his life, and even how he had started his protecting work. But now. Now he would be a complete disgrace. He had braken the main rule of the Afterlife – he became visible to his protege.

Inuyasha got to the castle. He stopped at the main door, leaning his hand against it. He didn't even want to think what he would be facing in a few minutes.

He walked the corridor. Stopped in front or his family's room and opened it...

Inside sat her mother and father. Both turned their faces towards the boy. Izayoi seemed a bit sad, but Inutaisho seemed angry. Inuyasha's ears went drooping. He closed the door slowly and sat in front of his parents.

"Honey..." Izayoi was about to say.

"Now I... I can explain..."

"Son, I am very disapointed in you", Inutaisho said. "I told you – if you Ever get sensed in any way by your protege, tell me or the Kig Right Away!"

"But I..." Inuyasha mumbled. "She was so sad... Tried to kill herself once, I... I had to do something!"

"And now what? She lost you again! Now she has faced two huge losses in a very short period of time!"

"...And yeah... How could I die then? You told me deaths are always meant to be. Maybe this was just like it – meant to be."

"No. You chose to attack the demon. A spirit can make choices like that, living beings can't."

"...I'm so sorry... mom and dad... Please forgive me..." Inuyasha whimpered.

"The word is out. Many people in the castle know about this. And, of course, the King. I'll take you to him tomorrow, and we'll see what he thinks", Inutaisho said, not sounding insanely angry anymore.

It was getting later. Inuyasha didn't want to be with his parents right now. He had walked to the verandah where you could see the field where the kids played dodgeball. Now there was nobody around, just the ball, in the middle of the field. Inuyasha grabbed and held it. He felt so sad. His friends in the land of the living were sad because of him, and his parents were angry because of him.

What about Zaki?

Inuyasha got on his way through the castle. He got to the dragon temple right away – but he wasn't there. Inuyasha started sniffing the air and listening. He followed his instincs, and found his friend from a room where there was currently going on a prom. There Zaki sat in a corner, with his cousin by his side. When Inuyasha got closer, they both turned towards him.

"Hi, Inu", Zaki waved. "Come on, sit down."

Inuyasha sat down next to him. "You've heard the news about me."

"Oh yea, who wouldn't. But don't worry, nobody else than your dad and the King are angry. But oh man, I have heard of spirits turning material and go to the world of the living, but Never heard of them dying again!"

"I guess I'm making history.", Inuyasha sighed.

"Don't you worry. I think this will be forgotten in a few weeks. We all have better things to think about."

"Yea, I hope so..."

"But now, relax and enjoy the prom! Wanna join the dance?"

The prom went on for who knows how late. Inuyasha got on the dance floor for a while, but got tired pretty soon and decided to get on his way home. He was pretty glad. He had been prepared for something much horrible.

He got to his famiy room. His father wasn't there, but his mother sat on the tatami-floor, brushing her hair. After she saw her son she smiled like the sun. Inuyasha closed the door quietly, not smiling.

"Come here, honey", she smiled. Inuyasha tilted his head with a sigh and sat down in front of her. Izayoi wrapped her arms gently around her son.

There they sat, Inuyasha in her mother's arms. It was maybe a bit of a weird situation; Inuyasha sitting in her mother's arms his eyes closed. The Inuyasha: he who curses, he who fights... fights for his friends and loved ones. He just had lost almost all of his childhood years with no mother, so now it was his time to get those years back.

"Would you like me to brush your hair?" Izayoi asked

"Hm? Yea", Inuyasha mumbled. As she brushed the boy's long and thick hair, Inuyasha smiled with his fangs beared a bit.

"Are you angry with me?" he asked quietly.

"No", Izayoi answere, quiet too. "Don't mind your father. He will be his normal self in a day or two."

"Is he still at work?"

"Oh yes", Izayoi said. "He does work a lot."

"As much as me?"

"Heh, something like that", Izayoi chuckled.

* * *

Poor Kagome and friends... What will happen next?

That's a good guestion. I think it might take a bit longer for the next chapter published. But remember – every review helps and gives me insipiration!


	9. Promotion

I'm so so so sorry it took this long to get this chapter out. F'gimme.

9 – Promotion

When Inuyasha woke up the next morning, he still couldn't see his father around. Was he still so angry with him that he didn't even want to talk to him?

The boy got up from his bed, stretched a bit and scratched his ear with his foot.

"Good morning, Honey", Izayoi said. "I'll be painting the fifth bathing room's wall today." Inuyasha smiled. "You'll find me from there if you need me."

Inuyasha nodded. But then his smile suddenly faded. He remembered what his father had said last night.

"Is dad coming back for me?" the boy asked.

"I think he is coming any minute", Izayoi nodded. "But now I'll be on my way. See you!" She got up, walked to her son, giving him a gentle kiss on his forehead and walked out of the room.

So, Inuyasha decided to just stay in their family room, waiting for his father. He sat on the floor, pat his finger claw against it... When suddenly the door was slid open, and revealed Inutaisho. They didn't say anything for a while, when finally:

"Come, son. Off to the King", Inutaisho said, low and calm. Inuyasha stood up and followed his father all along the corridors. Neither said a word. Inuyasha's ears were drooping. Maybe his father was angry with him – but so was he himself. He should have known better and obey the rules.

"We're here." Inutaisho opened the door to the Kings room. And this time the King was there. He was walking around, like he was thinking of something.

"My King", Inutaisho said, quiet, let Inuyasha in and closed the door. "I know You are upset. But I can explain. My son had great feelings towards that girl, and..."

"No excuses. Now what you, Inuyasha, have done, is a very serious offence against the Afterlife rules. That Is true. But!"

The dog duo listened carefully. "...But?" Inutaisho wondered out loud.

"You have shown that you are a significantly strong soul to do something like this. Not many souls have turned into something material. Not in my times of ruling this dimension. So, I will let you go. You can continue your protecting. But not as your protege's pet dog.."

"A-aye..." Inuyasha nodded,.

"Now then. I know I must sound weird, but I must say – I am actually very proud of you, young boy!"

Both Inuyasha's and his father's eyes widened. Eh... What?!

Neither said a thing, and the King carried on:

"Now that your are the highest level of a soul that can be, you will no longer be just a soul. You will become an angel. A guardian angel."

Inuyasha stood still, confused.

"What does it mean?" he asked.

"You will no longer have just one person to protect. You can protect anyone you see in need of help. You will get beautiful wings..."  
"But... I still can't be seen by my friends again?"

"That's the best part – you can, if you only want to."

Both dogs' gasped and looked at each other.. The King continued:

"But don't overdo it. You still must not tell too much about this dimension. And one more thing. You, Inutaisho?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"Have you already told Inuyasha about when one gets to know when his or her protege's death happens?"

"No."

"Why not?" Inuyasha almost shouted. The King just waved his hands to calm the situation.

"So", he started. "One and maybe the most important thing of being a true angel: you can and actually Have to prevent your proteges from commiting suicide. You will learn to do it in time."

"That's nice but, eh, you know..." Inuyasha mumbled. "I've already done it."

The both man' eyes widened.

"Son, what did you just say?" Inutaisho asked.

"It was my first day of work and I followed her to school and... She was about to jump in front of a... whatever those moving metal things... in other words, kill herself. I had to do something..."

Again, the men stared at him. Nobody said a word.

"I'm really sorry", Inuyasha stared at the floor. "Are you mad with me?"

"No, no, no!" the King cheered. "See? You could do things only angels can do even though it was your first day in here! This is incredible! You bring great honor to your family, and not them, but all the Aferlife of Japan!"

'Just Japan?' Inuyasha wondered in his head.

So, after a few shakes of hands, the father and the son left the King's hall. The King had told Inuyasha how to use his wings – he only needed to 'call them out', and there they were – beautiful, big, white and silky feather wings.

Now they were on their way to their family room. Inuyasha had a question:

"Dad..." he said. "The King said I bring honor to the Afterlife of Japan."

"True. And?"

"Why just Japan? How about, ehh... Well, all other countries of world?"

"It's the cultures. For example, American souls would feel better spending their afterlife in the ways if their culture. We live in other dimensions"

"Why haven't you told me about this?"

"Well, I thought I'd tell you once you get to know better and such..."

"Haha, and now I'm, like, the strongest angel of all Afterlife! How about that?" Inuyasha grinned. His father chuckled and rubbed his son's hair.

They got to their family room. But it was empty – Izayoi must still be doing the painting. Or...

"What about some lunch?" Inutaisho suggested. Inuyasha looked at him in the eyes and nodded with a smile.

Again, they walked the corridor... When three young, about Inuyasha's aged kids ran to them.

"Whoa! Inuyasha!" one of them shouted. Inuyasha twitched his ears – who was this guy?

"Hi?"

"It's so cool to be your friend!" another said. Inuyasha seemed just more confused.

"Ehh... What's going on?!"

"The word is out! Everyone knows what the King has just told you!"

"Yeeaa! I have never seen an angel of your level before!"

"So, can you please be our friend?"

"...Sure?" Inuyasha said, tilting his head. And so they got on their way again.

They got to the dining hall's door. Inutaisho knocked thrice, and they heared these words from behind the door.

"Shush! It's them..."

Inutaisho looked at his son, with a small grin... They stepped in...

"Congratulations, Inuyasha!" the whole hall shouted together. There were countless of people, all kinds. They clapped their hands and whistled as Inuyasha walked through the multitude, looking from side to side. He was maybe a bit uneasy. He had never been in a situation like this before. But then he saw his mother sitting at the edge of the hall... He ran to her, knelt down and hugged her.

"Hi, Honey!" Izayoi smiled and stroked his son's hair. The boy tightened his hug. "I am so proud of you. I knew you were a strong soul, but that you become a true angel in this short perioid of time... You trurly bring honor to us all."

Inuyasha nuzzled against his mother stomach. Soon, his father came with three porcelain cups.

"As today is your day, son, we're all eating ramen for lunch!"

Inuyasha took a cup and chopsticks, starting to eat, with both of his parents sitting beside him. He was feelig so good – like everything was perfect.

After most of people had finished their meals, a prom was helt. People circled around in the middle of the hall, and the ones who didn't dance, clapped their hands. Inuyasha was sitting togerther in a corner, when suddenly Zaki appeared to them.

"Yo, Inu! Congrats! Well, what are you waitin' for? Get here right now and dance!"

Inuyasha didn't say anything, but his father smiled and pet his back:

"Go on, go on", he nodded. Inuyasha still hesitated for a while, but finally sighed, grinned and got up, following Zaki in the middle of the dancing people.

"Now, Inu, show us your wings!" he said. Everyone started clapping their hands and somebody called Inuyasha's name. Finally the boy grinned, and just one take of breath, and those corgeous wings spread out from his back.

"Hooo-raayy!" everyone shouted.

After the lunch and prom it was Inuyasha's time to get back to the world of the living. He felt a bit nervous, although he had used his saving-powers once before.

He hopped down through the portal and found himself, as always, from the huge tree in the middle of the Higurashi shrine. He was currently in his invisible mode.

Well, Inuyasha was just about to go and see Kagome. The last time he saw her was, after all, within a tragedy – when she had seen him die for the second time.

But what? Inuyasha sniffed around, but couldn't catch Kagome's scent. Then he saw her mother coming out from the house. She looked a bit sad, and was in a hurry. She started the car and drove away. Inuyasha followed her, sitting down on the car's roof. He was very surprised seeing the centrum of Tokyo. So much people, insanely huge buildings Inuyasha had never seen before.

Then finally Mrs. Higurashi stopped her car to a parking lot. This was childrens psychiatric hospital. As Mrs. Higurashi rushed in, Inuyasha was following her from above.

She sat on a bench in a waiting room. Inuyasha sat right beside her and sighed. What is this? He had clearly missed something now. Oh shit! Before this he had overdone things, and now when he finally Should overdo things, he misses his work.

It took a long while, until finally somebody, a doctor, called from behind a door:

"Higurashi!"

So she got up and walked to the doctor. They shook hands and closed the door. Inuyasha got up and flew through the door – and there she was! Kagome! But... She seemed so sad. Inuyasha had never seen her that heart-broken.

Mrs. Higurashi sat down next to her daughter. The girl broke to tears and hugged her mother. The woman rocked gently and stroke her hair. Inuyasha was sitting on the examining table in his dog pose. He saw the girl's left arm was bandaged.

"Kagome does not need inpatient care, but she does need two weeks rest now. She can study at home, but if you, Kagome, feel like you can't do it, just stop. And if you, Mrs. Higurashi, see her cutting her arm more, come back here. Cuts this small are not already dangerous, but sometimes patients go very deep, even all the way to the bone, which can cause bad infections – and that can cause blood poisoning, and that can lead to death."

Mrs. Higurashi seemed horrified. She never stopped stroking her daughter's hair. Kagome just stared at floor... until she turned her eyes as the examining table... And saw Inuyasha. Her eyes widened, but after she blinked a few times, he was gone.

"We will start giving you medication for depression", the doctor said, but Kagome didn't really listen. Was she losing her mind, seeing dead people?

"Now, darling, what would you like to do? Go rent a movie? Order pizza?" Mrs. Higurashi asked while they were driving towards their home. Kagome didn't really want to do anything, but wanted to make her mom happy, and said:

"Pizza would be nice..."


	10. I'm here

10 – I'm here

Kagome and her mom drove back to home. They left their shoes next to the door and Mrs. Higurashi put the lights on. She got her cellphone and turned to Kagome.

"What kind of a pizza would you want?"

"I dunno... Let's say Frutti di mare."

And so the pizza was ordered. Kagome sat on the sofa, looking miserable. And Inuyasha saw this. He was sitting right next to her. He was thinking of a perfect moment to show up to her.

The doorbell rang – the pizzas were there. After doing the payment, Mrs. Higurashi brought them to the living room.

"Here you go, darling", she smiled and handed over the warm box of pizza to her daughter. They started eating together as Mrs. Higurashi turned the TV on. Kagome didn't really concentrate on it, when suddenly...

She turned her face next to her and...

Saw Inuyasha.

Kagome almost choked on her pizza and started coughing hard.

"Are you alright, darling?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, worried, and pat the girl's back. Kagome couldn't keep her eyes opened as she couldn't stop coughing.

"Drink this", Mrs. Higurashi said helped Kagome drink her Cola. Finally Kagome could stop coughing... But Inuyasha was gone. She had a short pause eating her pizza. What was going on? Was she really going insane?

She carried on eating.

After both Higurashis' had finished their pizzas, Kagome thought it was time to have a moment to herself. She hadn't told her mom about those strange visions of Inuyasha that she's been having.

Now she stepped in her room and closed the door. There she stood – in the middle of her empty room. All alone. After a while she finally turned her eyes to the window. Nowadays, she always kept it open, so that Inuyasha could come in.

But now, Kagome didn't open it. Inuyasha wouldn't come. He was dead.

She laid down on her bead on her back and closed her eyes. She just stared at the ceiling and breathed slowly. This took a while.

Then she sat up and opened the drawer of her nightstand, taking out the rosary Inuyasha always wore. Even as a dog. She put the rosary down on the table and got up. It was getting quite late, so she took her pajamas out of her closet and changed to them.

Inuyasha was sitting on her table. He spread his wings, trying maybe if she could hear it. But she clearly didn't. She brushed her hair and got in bed. She curled up in her blanket and laid there, eyes open. But as she had had a rough day, she was tired and fell asleep fast.

Inuyasha was sitting at the window. He had opened it. Maybe Kagome would realize he had been here. While, actually, there was this chance of Kagome just getting more scared of being insane. But Inuyasha wanted to give it a shot. He flew through the room and sat down in the bed's foor. Now all he could do was to wait.

He was patient. He sat there, stroking the girl's ankle, but, of course, she wouldn't be able to feel it even if she were awake. But suddenly he felt the girl moan and move a little. She turned on her side and opened her eyes... seeing the window - it was open!

Kagome gasped and quickly sat up... And saw Inuyasha, sitting right there at her feet. Inuyasha's ears shot up. Now it was the time!

"I-I-Inuyaaaaaa-!" she screamed, but Inuyasha shot to her over the bed and covered her mouth with his hand. Kagome stared at him with her eyes wide, tears coming to her eyes. Inuyasha shushed her, but didn't say anything.

After a quiet moment Inuyasha finally removed his hand from her mouth. Kagome still stared at him.

"Inuyasha... Is it really you Inuyasha...?"

"It's okay, Kagome", Inuyasha said quietly. "It's me. I'm here."

Inuyasha moved to her side and placed his wing over her shoulders. The girl felt the feathers and stroke them.

"Wings... What are these for? Why and where did you get them? Where have you been all this time? I thought you were dead! I have been having hallucinations of you! I-!"

"Slow down, slow down", Inuyasha calmed the girl. "There's not much to tell you..."

"Oh but you have So Much to tell me! So much weird things have happened since you died... Or did you even die? How can you bere here, sitting next to me if you died over a month ago? How-?"

Inuyasha sighed. Oh how he wished he could the girl's questions. He just wasn't allowed to.

"Kagome, shut up", he said, but not like he used to. His voice was calming."I can tell you some things."

Kagome stared at the boy her eyes wide, quiet.

"First, I did die. Since then I have been following you as your protector, guardian angel. Then I-"

"But why didn't you show up to me earlier than today? My life has been hell since you died and..."

"Let me finish", Inuyasha said. "The dog you met Was me. I somehow managed to turn into a real dog just to make you feel better. But then things got too complicated and I died – again – and now that I have turned into a high-level guardian angel, I can protect you so that you can even see me."

"Th-this is..." Kagome stammered and threw herself into the boy's arms, hugging tight. Inuyasha's eyes widened, but he hugged back. He loved feeling the warmth of her body. He had missed it so much.

"But now we have to show you to mama!" Kagome answered after their cuddle-moment had ended. "If it's okay with you."

"I guess so", Inuyasha shrugged. "But you must not tell about me to anyone else than your family. And as I told you, I'm following you everywhere... Well, I have my breaks... But this was something I guess I shouldn't tell you. As I was saying, I follow you to school as an angel, but just like before, in my invisible mode. Never, Ever tell your friends about me."

Kagome was more cheerful than ever. She walked down the stairs with Inuyasha floating right after her.

"Mama!" the girl cheered after seeing her mother, sitting on the sofa with Kagome's little brother Souta next to her. As it was getting quite late, all the best TV programs were on. And then... The duo on the sofa could see Inuyasha. Souta flinched and Mrs. Higurashi gasped, her hand in front of her mouth.

"Inuyasha!" Souta shouted happy, jumped off the sofa and hugged the dog boy. Mother got up too and slowly walked to him. She waved her hand in front of his face and touched his forehead.

"Is it really you, Inuyasha?" she asked, astounded. Inuyasha nodded with a smile.

"What is goin' on in here?" said an old man's voice from the hallway. Soon their grandpa stepped into the livingroom. His reaction to the angel-Inuyasha was the same as everyone elses'.

"Am I really seeing a dead person? Can you see him?" he asked everybody. Everyone nodded with a smile.

"We must celebrate this!" Mrs. Higurashi clapped his hands together. "I will cook some ramen as supper!"

"No no, we dead persons don't eat in this world", Inuyasha said.

"... If not here, then where?" Kagome asked.

"Forget it."

Mrs. Higurashi still made ramen. The whole Higurashi family sat around the table. Inuyasha sat there too, just watching the family eat.

"Can you still go through the time?" Kagome asked her mouth full. "Everyone would love to see you!"

"Sure. We'll be on our way right after you have eaten."

Even though it was getting a bit dark, the teens decided to go. Kagome hadn't packed her backpack this time, as this visit to the Feudal era would be short.

"I really wish you could answer my questions..." Kagome mumbled as she walked through her home yard towards the old shack, with Inuyasha flying next to her.

"Me too", Inuyasha nodded. "All I can say that these things are very complicated."

Kagome was standing in front of the dried well. Inuyasha was sitting on it.

"Wanna ride on my back?" the boy grinned. Kagome nodded and smiled. Inuyasha spread his wings, and so she got on the boy's back. Inuyasha jumped down, and in a flash of light, they were there – in the Feudal era. Inuyasha flew out of the well and flew straight up to the skies.

"I wonder how they will react after they see you..." Kagome thought out loud.

"I'm sure they will totally freak out", Inuyasha said, calm. "I actually expected you to act even more hysterical than you did when you saw me for the first time."

"Oh but you have no idea what I have been through after your, eh, first death."

"Trust me, I do."

And so they flew all the way over the tree tops, towards Kaede's village. When they were getting closer, Inuyasha did the same thing he did to get visible to Kagome – put his hands together and created a strange pulse.

"Kya!" Kagome cried out when she felt the pulse. "What was that?"

"Don'tcha worry. I'ts okay."

Then they arrived above the village. Both teens felt a bit nervous... And then they saw her – a woman with beautiful dark hair, pink kimono with a long, green skirt, and a baby in her arms. Kagome smiled and waved at her, smiling and shouting:

"Sango-chan!"

And so that woman turned her face towards the noise from the sky – and after seeing what the girl was riding...

"I-Inu..." and she almost dropped the baby. Inuyasha landed and Kagome hopped down from his back, landing in front of her. Inuyasha got on all fours and shook himself like a dog. Sango was so astounded she was shaking a bit. Slowly she stepped closer and reached her shaking hand towards the boy, and felt his shoulders, chest and forehead.

"B-but how can this be...? I mean..."

"Let's get in", Inuyasha just snorted, sounding maybe like the 'real' Inuyasha – a bit arrogant. And so they walked into the hut. And the reacts were very varying.

"...Inuyasha!" Shippo shouted, bouncing up and down and hugged the angel's leg.

Kaede dropped her porcelain cup out for amazement and just stared and him.

"Dear Buddha..." Miroku whispered and got up. Just like his wife, he also he felt Inuyasha from here and there – he was real.

"We have so much to ask you..." Miroku said. "First..."

"First!" Shippo shouted out, smiling like the sun. "First, would you want some soup?"

"Well that is a question I Can answer. No. But as for other questions..."

"He can tell very little. Believe me, I tried to question him, but no good", Kagome sighed.

"But I can tell you that the dog that was here for a few weeks Was me. I'm so sorry I caused you so much sorrow by dying again but..."

"We can forget about that cuz now you're here!" Shippo smiled, playing with Inuyasha's wing. "And you'll never leave, like always!"

"Wait, wait", Inuyasha calmed everyone down. "I can't be with you always. Actually, not very often. My job is, yes, to protect you all, but mainly Kagome. And Kagome, I can't do it to you in my visible form... So I can't be with you very much... Sorry 'bout that..."

"But when Kagome-chan comes here, you can come with her, right?" Sango ensured. Inuyasha nodded.

"But what if we get into an another fight and you die for the third time?" Shippo asked, horrified. Inuyasha just grinned, maybe a bit amused.

"Don'tcha worry. I am not fully physical like I was as when I was a dog. I'm completely dead already. I can't die anymore."

"B-but that means... You can be our invincible weapon in fights!" Miroku snapped his fingers.

"Well, I guess I now have to tell you one more thing I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you..." Inuyasha sighed. "I can't prevent you from dying. Everyone has their moment of dying, which can''t be changed, unless one commits suicide, and That is what we spirits and angels do – guarding our protege from suicide."

"Where do you get those rules from?" Miroku raised his eyebrow. "Where on earth do you live nowadays?"

"Uh... Man you're cornering me!" Inuyasha shouted out and shook his wing to get Shippo off his feathers. "Okay! Okay! I'm not 'living on earth', but in the Afterlife! With mom and dad and hundreds of thousands other dead souls! I started watching over you, Kagome, right the next day since my death, and nowadays I'm the highest level of a guardian angel, so that I can protect you all and even show up to you. There! Happy?"

Everyone just stared at the boy they eyes wide. They couldn't say anything.

Kaede dished out the soup for everyone alive, and they all ate in a creeping silence. Finally Inuyasha sighed and spread his wings.

"I guess I'll be going. But don't worry Kagome. I'll come to your side later. I'll protect you."

Inuyasha had just turned towards the door, when suddenly Kaede said:

"Wait, son!"

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder towards the old lady, tweaking his ears.

"Have you seen my sister Kikyo?"

Inuyasha felt a weird pulse within him. Kikyo? How could he have not seen her? The only answer could be she was still alive.

"...No."

Everyone had got ready for Inuyasha exiting the hut through the door, but they almost choked in their soups when Inuyasha simply flew through the wall. Everyone rushed out from the door and saw Inuyasha flying towards the moon finally disappearing. His friends looked at each-other.

"What a day..." Kagome said, quiet.

Again, I can't promise the next chapter will be out fast. But remember – reviewhhhh!


	11. Unwell?

11 – Unwell?

Inuyasha had just returned from the land of the living. He appeared at 'the place' where he nowadays usually did the transition – the roots of a huge tree in the middle of the forest. He got on his wings and flew all the way through the forest, slowly. He landed at the main door of the castle and folded his wings, making them disappear. He was so tired – could spirits become tired?

Inuyasha slouched through the corridors. There were much less people around, since it was something like 2 AM. Of course, proteges need protection at night too, but maybe not 24/7, and, quite obviously, people got in trouble much more rarely at night. But Inuyasha had his new ability to feel when Kagome of some other of his friends were in dead need of help, he could sense it. This meant he could have maybe a bit more free time... But what about being there for Kagome as a visible angel?

Finally Inuyasha got to his family's room. Both parents were there. There were two beds made on floor. Only two?

"Son! We thought you aren't coming at all!" Inutaisho shouted out, not angry at all, but more like relieved. "I'll make a bed for you right away!"

Inuyasha wobbled to his mother and crashed down right next to her, sighing.

"You've been gone all day", she said. "I understand you just wish well to your friends, but you must not overdo it. You look so tired..."

"But I didn't know spirits can get tired..."

"Yes we can", Inutaisho said as he pulled a futon-mattress from the wardrobe. "But only when we get extremely exhausted. And seeing you this tired tellls me that you really have to slow down with protecting. But I'd say don't cut on the main protecting in your real, invisible form, but cut the hanging around as a visible angel. It is very tiring. You're using up all your spiritual powers."

"But it's so hard watching over her walk the streets depressed..." Inuyasha mumbled as his father pet the bed he had just made in front of Inuyasha and Izayoi. "I want to be there for her. To hold her hand, to hug her..."

"Don't worry, of course you can spend some time with your friends in your visible form, but as me and your mother said – don't overdo it."

Inuyasha laid down on his bed on his side and watched his parents lie down. Izayoi was in between the men, and reached her hand towards Inuyasha. She stroked his cheek and ear. Inuyasha smiled a bit and closed his eyes with a sigh.

And so the sun rose again in the Japan's Afterlife the next morning. Inuyasha was the last one of his family to wake up. As he sat up his mother looked at him, looking a bit worried. Inuyasha sighed, looking terrible.

"Oh honey..." she said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"Now that you mention", Inuyasha mumbled, scratching his ear, "like shit. Am I sick?"

"Kind of", said Inutaisho, standing at the room's doorway, clearly about to leave.

"I didn't know spirits can get sick... How the heck is it even possible?!" the boy barked.

"Well, the word 'sick' is misleading, but there is this one way for a spirit to feel down, like living beings get sick. This happens only when you do something you did yesterday – working too much as a visible angel. I told you not to do it..." Inutaisho sighed. And so did Inuyasha. The boy crashed on his matress on his back, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"But I guess I still have to get to work today..."

"Of course you don't have to", Inutaisho said. "But I thought you would like to?"

"Yea... Just a few minutes..."

The 'few minutes' turned into an hour. And when he finally woke up again, he sat up like he had s spasm and looked around – the room was empty. Both his parents were gone. And he was feeling beat up. But he had to go. He stretched and yawned, rubbing his back of the head. He made his way through the corridors of the castle, arriving at the verandah. He took a deep breath of the refreshing air, but crashed on his butt. When suddenly...

"Hey, Inu!"

Who was it? Inuyasha turned around...

"Oh it's you..." he said, quiet. "Zaki."

The dragon boy jogged to him and sat down. He raised his eyebrow, examining his friend with his eyes.

"Man, you look like you were ran over by a boulder!"

"Thanks", Inuyasha snorted. "But I guess I deserve it. I broke the rules again – kinda."

"Right..." Zaki sighed. "I have been dead for the King knows how long but you're the first spirit to get in this much trouble in such a short time... So I guess what you did this time was to be too much in your visible mode, mh?"

"Yeah. I got so too excited about it – being able to talk to them, make them smile..."

"I might sound really harsh, but you simply can't carry on doing that. I guess you have been told this already but you Can..."

"Yea, Can do it sometimes. Yea, I know."

"But! Now I guess we both must be going. Or are you feeling strong enough?"

Inuyasha nodded and got up. The boys walked to the woods together, but separated, as they both used different transition portals nowadays. Inuyasha sat on the roots of the giant tree, touched them, and sighed. And in a flash of light, he was there – at the Higurashi yard.

The boy jumped down from the roots. He got on all fours, trying to get his wing out of his back. He could do it, but it was harder than before. He got on his wings and flew towards Kagome's room's window – it was open. Kagome was clearly hopeful Inuyasha would come and be with her always – at least almost. Inuyasha peeked in - and saw something he really shouldn't. Kagome was almost naked. Thank God she had her panties on – but not her bra. Inuyasha blushed harshly and turned away... while something in his mind said he'd like to see this.

After a short while Inuyasha carefully turned around, and saw the girl fully dressed in her school uniform. She was brushing hair. Inuyasha sat on her bed. He could see the girl was feeling quite well. But then she walked to her window, leaned against it and shouted out:

"Inuyaashaa!"

The boy's ears went drooping. He would have loved to turn into his material form, just for a few minutes – but he simply couldn't. He was too weak.

Kagome stood at the window for a while, finally sighing, and closing it. She turned around.

"Are you here, Inuyasha?" she asked, standing in the middle of the room, looking around. Inuyasha got up and walked to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. She didn't even flinch. For a while she just stood still, but finally took her school bag and walked out. Inuyasha stood still, just watching her close the door, disappearing. He followed her, walking through the door.

"Mama, I'm off to school!" the girl shouted as she put her shoes on.

"Have a nice day, darling!"

Like usually nowadays, Kagome walked to school together with her little brother Souta, hand in hand. He had been very cheerful after seeing Inuyasha last evening.

"Will Inuyasha come back today?" he asked with an innocent smile on his face. Kagome didn't smile. And after Souta saw that, he sighed.

"Where is he, sis?"

"I wish I knew..."

Inuyasha followed Kagome at school. He watched her write all those beautiful marks – which Inuyasha couldn't read or write, since he had never been to school. Kagome was getting clearly like her own self. Maybe a bit quiet, but nothing like a week ago.

Now it was the lunch break of the school. Kagome sat at a table with her three friends – Inuyasha sitting on an empty chair next to Kagome.

The girls chattered and laughed at their stupid teen-girl jokes, as Kagome pushed around the potato around the plate with her fork, all quiet. And her friends noticed that.

"Are you really sure you are all right?" Yuka asked with a sad face. Kagome stared at her for a while, then sighed.

"Yea..."

"You were in the youth psych polyclinic..." Ayumi mumbled. "Everyone knows that. We all have been wo worried!"

"It's not such a big deal", Kagome said and ate a piece of her potato. She swallowed it and continued: "Do you remember the girl last year? She who got down with anorexia? She who just one day didn't come to school?"

"Yes, she died..."

"She was even in a youth ward..."

"So. There's nothing to worry about me", Kagome nodded.

It was 3 PM, and Kagome's school day was about to end. She did walk to school with Souta, but as he was just on third grade, his school days ended a lot earlier. She walked alone back home.

"You know, Inuyasha..." Kagome mumbled as she walked the way towards home. Inuyasha was floating behind her back, flinching at those words. Could she sense him?

"I hope you can see me. I can't tell are you there or not... But I wish you are." She sighed, got back on her way... but stopped after a few steps. "I miss you."

She got home. Her brother sat on living room's sofa, playing PlayStation. The little boy greeted his sister with a smile, Kagome waving at him, walking to the kitchen. It was empty.

"Souta!" she shouted. "Where's mama?"

"At the grocery store", he answered, concentrating the game.

The girl made herself a sandwich and went to her room. She sat on her chair and put down some of her school books on the table, getting ready for her studies.

Inuyasha was slacking on the girl's bed, when he decided to give it all he got – and turned visible. Kagome felt the feeling that you get when there's someone behind you, turned around with the sandwich in her mouth. Inuyasha, got up from the bed and walked slowly to her. The girl chewed the sandwich so it fell on the floor.

"Hi", Inuyasha smiled a bit.

"Y-you..." Kagome stammered. "Where have you been? I've been so lonely! So worried!"

"You don't have to worry about me ever again. I am dead. An angel. I can't be harmed."

"Why haven't you been with me?" Kagome asked, grabbing the boy's hand, dragging him against her, hugging him.

"Sorry, can't answer that", Inuyasha sighed. "But don't worry, I'm still always – well, almost – there. Though most of the time you can't see me, I am there."

Inuyasha spent only about an hour in his visible form. That was all he could do. He sat on Kagome's bed beside her, both leaning their heads against their shoulders. During that hour, only a few words were told. Until finally...

"I have to get going now", Inuyasha said.

"What? Now? Why?" the girl asked.

"Taking care of you this much is getting laborious", he said and hopped off the bed. "I have to get some rest. But don't worry, I'll be back!"

Inuyasha slowly walked to the window, climbed on it, but...

"Inuyasha, wait!"

The boy looked over his shoulder, and saw Kagome. She hugged him, and gave a kiss on his cheek. He blushed a bit a felt the cheek.

"Better come back!" she winked. "You promised!"

Inuyasha grinned.

Thank you for just that one review I got today. It gave me inspiration. So! More of 'em!


	12. Strange things are happening

Okay now, first, thank you for 2000+ views! But; I don't really know what to do right now. I kinda feel like this story is about to come to it's end on the other hand, I really don't want to stop. I love writing, and I think this is a good plot. Whatever happens, there will be At Least, I dunno, 2-3 chapters. What do you think? Should I quit? Should I carry on? Let me know your opinion, please.

Well, now in this chapter, things get interesting!

12 – Strange things are happening...

A few days went by. Inuyasha still had to 're-charge' his spiritual powers, so he couldn't keep 'real company' to Kagome. But Kagome had become almost somewhat like her normal self – she knew Inuyasha was there with her. She was active at classes, ate well, not only at home and school cafeteria, but also in the nearest McDonalds with her friends after school - just like now.

Kagome had just paid for her hamburger with a coke, joining her friends at a table. Inuyasha was sitting right beside her – on the floor next to the chair, in his dog-pose.

"You know, Kagome", said Eri, drinking her Fanta. "You have been feeling better lately, after that short break the nurse gave you..."

"Yea. Before that you used to be sick and absent from school for, like, more than two days every week! Sometimes whole week!"

_'Arhh, grandpa...'_ Kagome growled in her head. He always made those silly excuses for her absences. Just a cold, maybe pneumonia, sepsis, insuline shock, something as crazy as diptheria... And somehow they always went through.

"Hm, well... I guess I had some problems with my immune system", Kagome said.

The girls carried on thein junk food meal, talking nonsense, laughing. Kagome took part in the coversation and even smiled every now and then. But then she turned her face towards the window, looked out, leaning her forehead against it.

_'I wish you were here...' _she sighed.

Inuyasha might be a flying, invisible angel, but he couldn't hear the girl's thoughts. But he could still kind of see what was in her mind. Slowly he rose from the floor through the table. He sat down on the table opposite Kagome. His ears were drooping. Even if he had his spiritual powers full now, he wouldn't be able to show up now. Not when her friends – and all the other people for that matter – could see him.

"Kagome?" Yuka pet her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yea..."

As Inuyasha had been gathering his strength for a few days, he had been starting to feel better. Maybe tomorrow he could show up for a little while.

Now Kagome seemed to be just fine. She got home from school, had a snack, and was now doing her homework. Inuyasha was sitting at the open window, wagging his legs slowly. When...

"I know you're here", the girl said. Inuyasha's eyes widened. But that was it – she didn't get up from her chair, didn't even stop writing her notebook. And so Inuyasha sighed his ears drooping, hopped out of the window and flew all the way to the roots of the Goshinboku – the place where he always transited to the Afterlife.

Inuyasha had returned to the Afterllife and was on his way to the castle. But he didn't fly – he wanted to spare every little ounce of his strength for tomorrow, so he could show up to Kagome.

He arrived at his family's room's door, but stopped in front of the door, not going in. He could hear speech coming from inside. He could tell they were his parents, but couldn't make out what they said. He knocked the door...

"It's him", a voice whispered. Inuyasha opened the door. He was prepared for something mischievous, but nothing seemed out of order.

"What are ya up to?" Inuyasha asked, came in, closed the door and sat down between his parents.

"Well uh..." Inutaisho sighed, rubbing his neck.

"You will get to know soon", Izayoi smiled, placing her hand on her son's shoulder.

"And when is 'soon'?" the boy asked. "You act like you were getting a new baby!"

Inutaisho's and Izayoi's eyes widened. They turned at each other and chuckled. Inuyasha's ears shot up.

"W-what the Hell?!" he barked. "You've GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!?" And so he ran out the room.

"Wait, Inuyasha-!" Inutaisho shouted, but the boy was gone. "He got it all wrong..."

"As I told him, he will know soon", Izayoi said. "The transit was in the evening, wasn't it?"

Inuyasha marched the corridors, not really going anywhere. Then he got to a verandah, walked for a while, when suddenly...

BAM! A ball hit his head hard.

"What the...!" Inuyasha growled. Then he saw a group of kids walking towards him, through the playground.

"Hey, Inuyasha!" one kid shouted. "Come, join the ga-!"

But Inuyasha didn't feel like playing. He threw the ball towards them, and just when he was about to turn around and get on his way, he heard a voice call:

"Inuyasha! Yo, Inuyasha!"

And so Inuyasha saw Zaki. He was standing in the middle of the group. He walked to Inuyasha, and the game carried on.

"Come", Zaki said. "I can see you need someone to talk to."

The boys walked for a while, all quiet. When suddenly Zaki stopped.

"Look, pal, tell me what you have in your mind."

"It's something Disgusting", the dog boy snorted. "I maybe don't even want to talk about it!"

"Aw, c'mon!" Zaki poked his friend's side with his elbow. "I'm listening!"

"Well then..." Inuyasha sat down. "Sit down."

After a little moment silence Inuyasha sighed.

"My parents are getting a baby."

"They... WHAT?"

Silence. Nobody said a thing. Until Zaki said:

"You've got to be kidding me."

"No I'm not. My mom and dad told me"

"Are you sure? Absolutely certain?"

"Well, not Absolutely, but... I could tell it from their words."

Again, silence.

"You must have misjudged them", Zaki said.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha raised his eyebrow.

"People can't have babies here at the Afterlife."

"..." Inuyasha stared at his friend. "But then... What were they trying to say?"

"Go back to them and ask."

And so Inuyasha got on his way back to his family's room. He had only one question in his mind: what the hell is going on?

Inuyasha got to their room. Only Izayoi was there.

"Oh, hi, honey!" she smiled as the boy stepped in and closed the door. "Are you feeling a bit better now?"

"Maybe", Inuyasha mumbled and sat opposite his mother on his dog pose. "Just tell me what is going on."

"I'm sorry but I am not the right person to do it", Izayoi shook her head. "You must wait for your father to come. He can answer you."

"Why are things so difficult in here?" Inuyasha sighed, starting to scratching his hear with his foot. "But I'm sure you can answer one other question I have: are you having a baby?"

"Heh, no, honey!" Izayoi giggled. "It seems you didn't know that we can't have -"

"Babies in here. Yea, my friend just told me. Now, will dad come soon?"

"Maybe a bit later. Do you have anything to do until then?"

"Sure, I'll be going to Kagome soon."

And so he did. And he was just in time – Kagome was packing her backpack, she had to be going to the Feudal era. Inuyasha sat on her window, and the girl was talking, had been even before Inuyasha arrived.

"Mama, I'm leaving!" Kagome shouted as she ran out of the house, through the yard, to the well, and jumped down.

"You know, Inuyasha, I would really appreciate you to carry me up the well on your back", Kagome said as she started climbing the ladder up. Both Inuyasha and Kagome sighed.

They got to the village. People were working at the fields, and what do you know, a woman was hanging the laundry on a clothesline in front of Kaede's hut. That was Sango, with a baby on her back.

"Sango-chan!" Kagome shouted out and jogged to her.

"Oh, It's you, Kagome-chan!" Sango smiled. They hugged each other.

"How have things been in here?" Kagome asked.

"Well, very... different now since... since Inuyasha is dead", Sango sighed.."Have you seen him lately?"

"Now he's been gone for a while... But he told me he is watching over me. I'm sure he's right here with us."

Inuyasha smiled and rolled his eyes.

Again, Kagome's visit in the Feudal era was pretty short. She did have a cup of tea with Sango, Shippo and Kaede, but as Miroku was hunting, she couldn't see him before she had to leave.

It was late when he got back to the Higurashi's house yard.

"I'm back!" Kagome cheered as she got in. She could hear her mother greet from the kitchen. First, the girl went to her room to put her backpack beside her bed. Inuyasha looked at this behind her back.

Kagome had some chocolate cereal for bedtime snack. She hugged her mother and got to sleep. For a little while Inuyasha sat at her bed end, trying to massage her ankle, but his hand went through.

After Kagome fell asleep, Inuyasha returned to the Afterlife.

Inuyasha was on his way to the castle in the Afterlife. He walked slowly through the dark woods... When he caught two familiar scents. He could recognize one of them, but wasn't sure about the other one. Inuyasha sniffed as he walked forwards.

He got to the castle in about ten minutes. Candles lit the verandahs. Inuyasha stepped in and got on his way to his family's room. The two scents got stronger and stronger by every step.

Finally he stood at his family's room's door and knocked. He opened the door... And saw something he would have expected the least.

"... You...?!"

Quess who it is?


	13. Brothers

13 – Brothers

It was all quiet in the room of the Taisho family. Inuyasha was standing at the doorway, and on the floor sat his mother and father... and his big brother Sesshomaru.

"What the **FUCK** are **YOU** doing in here?!" the boy barked.

"Try to behave, son", Inutaisho tried to calm the situation. "You know how these things go. As I have told you, everyone's time comes, and..."

"Fuck the times! This is ridiculous! I have been dead for about two months and now even

the last member of the Taisho family is dead! This is outrageous! So incredibly SAD!"

"Inu-"

"And I will **NOT** share my room with that dickhead! Give him a tent so he can sleep in the garden!"

"_As his big brother,_ t_ry to understand_", Inutaisho whispered in Sesshomaru's ear. "_He's just upset, that's all._" Inutaisho turned at his younger son, sighed, got up and walked to him. He placed his hand on his shoulder and tried to act happy. "Believe me, you two will learn to love each other in time!"

"I'm outta here!" Inuyasha snorted and stormed out of the room. Everyone stared after him in deep silence.

"...Well that went well", Izayoi sighed quietly.

"Remember, he's just a teen", Inutaisho said as he pet Sesshomaru's back.

"But not a negative aged brat", Sesshomaru said with his cold, calm voice. Inuyasha's words didn't offend him. They never had. In fact, almost nothing could offend him.

.

Inuyasha marched through the castle's corridors, mumbling curse words. He was looking for his friend Zaki, so he could share the news with someone he trusted. Sometimes, Zaki was almost like a psychiatrist to him. He could always talk to him.

He sniffed the air, trying to catch Zaki's scent. It took a while, when he finally found him – swimming in a lake with some other spirits.

"Zaki!" Inuyasha shouted and jogged to the lakefront.

"Oh, hi, Inu!" the dragon boy smiled and waved his hand. "Wanna join swimming?"

"No. I've got some news for you."

"... Right", Zaki nodded. "Well, just a minute, I'll get my clothes.

Zaki got dressed up pretty quickly. He walked to Inuyasha.

"So. What have you done now?" he grinned humorously.

"Nothing. I am the victim this time", Inuyasha growled. "You see, I have a brother – half-brother – and we didn't really get along back at the world of living... And now that idiot is here! Can you believe it?!"

"Hehe, your family has just died out", Zaki grinned.

"I know this day would happen sooner or later... But not THIS soon!"

"Considering the fact that you will be here together for quite a long while, you should really try to talk to him. You can form brotherly love in time."

"You don't know him", Inuyasha shook his head, eyes closed. "He hates me", he sighed, sounding actually a bit sad.

"But what about you?"

"Well I... I don't hate him", Inuyasha mumbled. "I always wished he would be there for me when I was little, after my mom had died. I remember looking for him, and how after months of searching, I found him... And he rejected me completely. He said only a few words: 'go away'. And ever since then we grew apart. And when me met, we almost always fought. He Did have his chances to kill me a few times... but he never did. But I admit I have done something that's a good reason for him to hate me... I chopped off his left arm."

"Whoa... But you don't need to worry about that. He got his arm back after coming here."

Inuyasha nodded.

"But now I really think you should try to accept him. Tell him about your real feelings towards him, tell him what you just told me."

"What if he rejects me again?"

"Don't worry, you can't fight here!" Zaki winked.

Inutaisho and Sesshomaru were walking the corridor towards their room. They had just been to the King. It was time for Sesshomaru choosing his protege. This question was maybe even more silly than Inuyasha choosing Kagome – of course Sesshomaru would choose Rin.

"How can I protect here as much as possible?" Sesshomaru asked his father.

"You can follow her as an angel. But as you might already known, we spirits can't control the time of our protege's death. All we do is to prevent them of committing suicide and get badly hurt."

"But where will she go? She is out there all alone with just Jaken And Ah-Un with her. How can she manage when I just suddenly died?"

"Hm... Maybe Jaken is wise and good-hearted to find a village for her", Inutaisho thought out loud. "You remember the village where Inuyasha and his friends lived?"

"Yes. But still, I do not think Jaken would be able to something that complicated."

"Then ask your little brother. I think he can help you out."

When the dog-men got to their family room, they saw both Inuyasha and Izayoi sitting on the floor. Inuyasha was leaning against his mother, and she stroke his head.

"Honey, you had something to tell your brother", Izayoi smiled and stopped stroking.

"You too", confirmed Inutaisho, looking at Sesshomaru. "We'll be leaving."

After the room's door was shut, the brothers looked at each other, all quiet, Inuyasha's ears drooping. Sesshomaru sat down opposite him. They looked in each other's eyes.

"Well okay I'm sorry", Inuyasha said fast.

"... About what?" Sesshomaru asked.

"About your arm. I shouldn't have chopped it off", he shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry."

"No. I am sorry", Sesshomaru said, calm. "I should have helped you out when you would have needed me. And how I treated you like rubbish all your life.

"So, maybe..." Inuyasha's eyes lit up. "...We can call it quits and wipe the slate clean?"

"Yes", Sesshomaru nodded and raised his hand towards his brother. Inuyasha smiled and so they shoot hands

For a while they just sat there. They would have so much to say, but didn't know where to start. When finally...

"I have something to ask you", Sesshomaru said, turning at Inuyasha. "A favor."

"Huh?"

"Father said you could help me out with protecting Rin."

"How could I help her?"

"Father told me you, unlike almost all of us in here, can turn material for a while every now and then."

"Yes."

"Could you perhaps go to Rin and lead her to the village where you and your friends used to live?"

"Well, yea, I guess..." Inuyasha rubbed his left ear. "I'm pretty sure they will accept her. It wouldn't even be the first time Kaede had met Rin..."

"Then please do it as soon as possible", Sesshomaru said, looking very serious. "She is in grave danger out there."

"I have saved my spiritual powers for meeting Kagome..." Inuyasha said, his ears drooping. Then he sighed. "But I guess this is more important."

Inutaisho and Izayoi had left the boys and gone to the dining room for some lunch. After eating, they headed back to their family room. They opened the door and stepped in...

"Sesshomaru, where is Inuyasha?" Inutaisho asked. "Did he run away again?" he sighed.

"No, no, it's okay", Sesshomaru said calm. "We got to talk a bit. More than ever before. And now he's back there in the world of the living to lead Rin to safety."

"Whoa! He actually agreed to do that?"

"Yes. We don't hate each other anymore, but even if we did, he knows Rin is just a little, innocent child, and has nothing to do with our relationship."

Inuyasha had just arrived at Kagome's house yard. He knew Kagome was at school. He had planned to go with her right before he saw his brother, but now things had gone a bit hard. He flew and landed on the bottom of the magical well, flew up and started looking around.

'She is there... behind the forest... at the field of flowers...' Inuyasha thought and got on his wings.

He flew for a while. He could sense Rin's presence stronger and stronger in every flap of wings.

When finally he saw her – sitting on a huge field of colorful flowers, with the two-headed dragon and a small frog-like creature next to her.

"Oi!" Inuyasha shouted out, waving his hand from the heights. Rin startled a bit and dropped her flower bouquet. Slowly, Inuyasha landed in front of her.

"Hey! Aren't you Sesshomaru-sama's lil' brother?" she asked, eyes wide. "I didn't know you had wings and you can fly..."

"Heh, things change, you know... But I am here to take you with me."

"Stop!" the frog-creature shouted out and ran between them. "Why do you care? We are waiting for Sesshomaru-sama to come back to us and..."

"He is dead."

Rin and Jaken stared at the dog boy.

"What? Dead? How?!" Jaken screamed. Rin stared at the flowers with a sad face, finally starting to cry.

"H-hey... Don't worry", Inuyasha said, holding his hand on the little girl's shoulder. "I am here to take you to a safe place to live in. Sesshomaru sent me."

"Wh-why didn't he come?"

"He can't. He simply can't. But now, let's not waste time! You get on that dragon, and follow me! If we fly fast, we'll be there in no time!"

It took no more than maybe fifteen minutes before they arrived at Kaede's village.

"Remember that village?" Inuyasha grinned at Rin while they were flying high above buildings. Rin smiled and nodded. They landed.

"Wait here", Inuyasha said and walked to the door. He knocked... And Miroku opened the door.

"OHMY-!" Miroku almost fell back after seeing his head friend standing in front of him. "Inuyasha! It's really Inuyasha!" And he hugged him with one arm. Inuyasha hugged back.

"Inuyasha!" shouted Sango. She, too, hugged her tight. "You have been gone for a while!"

"And I won't be here for long this time either..." Inuyasha said and revealed Rin and others behind his back. "Sesshomaru, too, just died – can you believe it? - and Rin needs shelter. I promised him to get here to you. Now, will you take her in?"

"Wait a sec", Miroku said and peeked into the hut. Soon, an old lady came out.

"Inuyasha..." she wondered. "You have really embraced the role of a guardian angel, leading a lost child here."

"Will you accept her?" Inuyasha asked.

"Of course", Kaede smiled with a nod, and looked at Ah-Uh and Jaken. You two are also welcome to stay."

Inuyasha would have some spiritual powers left to stay for a little longer with his Feudal friends, but now that the main thing he went there was complete, he decided to return to the Afterlife. He wanted to spare as much power he could for meeting Kagome.

Inuyasha found his way straight to his family room – he knew his big brother was there following his scent. He had his good news.

He knocked the door. All others were in, sitting on the floor.

Sesshomaru got straight to the point:

"How is Rin?"

Inuyasha walked to them and sat next to him.

"I got her to the village. He got taken in", Inuyasha smiled a bit. Then something unexpectable happened – Sesshomaru reached his left arm – the one that Used to be cut off – over his brother's shoulders and hugged gently.

"Thank you", the man whispered in the boy's ear. "Thank you so much."

The parents looked at each other, completely dumbfounded. They smiled. This atonement happened faster than any of them would have expected.


End file.
